A Stroke of Bad Luck
by SepticMind
Summary: A sequel to Friday 13th…. A life of villainy often means stepping on a few people's toes in order to make your mark. Jinx's luck runs out when Gotham's most notorious couple decides to repay the favour. !Rating could raise to M!
1. Chapter 1

**AN/**** Finally! I got around to writing a sequel for Friday 13th! I know, I should have written this by now *cringe*. I blame college, deadlines, health issues, stress, my muse and… well, life in general. However I've been playing around with a few ideas in that time. I didn't abandon it, honest! **

**Oh yeah. Don't ask why I changed my pen name. I don't really know the answer myself. Sorry for any confusion. Anyway, remember those critical reviews ;) They help a ton!**

* * *

><p>Jinx closed the door with her bodyweight as she examined her familiar and much missed surroundings. The meta human had wanted to see Raven return to her full strength, but staying in titans tower had made her more anxious than she had let on. Not only had Jinx been waiting for Robin to attempt to restrain her and ship her off to some prison, she had to deal with the constant feeling of not belonging. Her own team mates weren't the brightest crayons in the pack, but they were her friends. People she could let her guard down around.<p>

Her face lit up with a smile as the sounds of arguing reached her, coming from the common room.

"That's my controller!"

"I don't see your name on it."

"Fine. Pass me a sharpie."

"Okay- wait… what kind of idiot do you take me for?"

"A pretty big one. One of you boys left the front door unlocked." Jinx smirked as she entered the room, watching Gizmo and Mammoth.

"Jinx!" Gizmo's voice held relief, but a frown adorned his face.

"The one and only." She moved over to the kitchen. "I'm surprised this place isn't more of a mess."

"I thought you had left us for that titan."

She smiled at Mammoth. "You wouldn't last two months without me. Of course I didn't."

"So you finally dumped that witch?" Gizmo asked.

"Nope." She turned to the fridge and rooted through it, grimacing as she came across a box of left over pizza that had started growing fur.

"She dumped you?"

"Hah! As if."

"She's okay with dating a villain?" Gizmo asked in disbelief.

"No idea." She shrugged, giving up on the fridge. "Probably not. Spending time in Titans Tower let me realise that _isn't _where I belong though, no matter what she has to say."

"That's comforting to hear." Gizmo muttered. "If you changed sides we'd have to find a new base."

"See, how could I ever think of changing sides if it meant I'd have to fight against you guys?"

"So, we back to normal?"

"Yeah."

"Good, because I've been keeping track of some possible targets. We're running low on cash."

"And edible food, apparently. Haven't you guys heard of grocery shopping?"

* * *

><p>Jinx frowned at the computer screen, trying to think of a way around the bank's security, and failing. Avoiding the titans had always been the best option, and despite what she'd told Gizmo, not everything was back to normal. There was still the inevitable issue of facing Raven on the battle field. Both knew they couldn't afford to go easy on the other, despite any emotions they might share for each other.<p>

"Hey Gizmo, you got a moment?"

"What?" He moved over to stand behind Jinx, a half finished gadget clutched in one of his small hands.

"Think we can find a way past this security?" She tapped the screen and he moved forward to get a better look.

"Sure. It's not going to be easy though. When we planning on robbing this place?"

"Soon. Soon as in when you can figure out how to disable all the alarms and security cameras."

"Give me two… no, three days. Oh yeah-" He turned his attention to the pink-eyed meta human. "A letter arrived for you while you were with the snot munchers. Got no idea how anyone knew where our base is." Gizmo frowned and moved to grab a white envelope off a low standing coffee table, throwing it vaguely in Jinx's direction. "Does anyone other than Raven know where we are?"

She shook her head as she caught the envelope. "Not that I know of." Her brows creased together as she ripped through the paper and pulled out a face down playing card. "What the..?" Jinx's face dropped as she flipped it over.

"Fuck."

"What?" Gizmo asked, and she showed him the card silently. "A joker card? So? What's the big deal?"

"Idiot. It's pretty obvious. Remember that small scale job we did up in Gotham a while ago?"

"What about it?"

"We bumped into that Harley freak."

Gizmo started cackling. "You set her straight! I remember that."

"Somehow she's managed to get her boyfriend involved. Who else would send a Joker card?" She muttered, and Gizmo's laugher died out.

"Crap. Well… we'll get the witch involved."

Jinx frowned at him. "No. We'll be fine. He's just human after all."

"Hello! What about his army of Blackgate prisoners? And no doubt that blond idiot is going to be with him. We can't fight all of them!"

"We're just going to have to." She snapped, studying the card. "When did it get here?"

Gizmo shrugged. "I don't know. Two days ago?"

She sighed, standing up. "Start working on the security for the bank. I'll go tell Mammoth."

"As much as I hate her, I still think we'd be so much better off with her watching our backs. The other titans too."

"Raven has enough problems without having to deal with mine too."

* * *

><p><strong>AN And there's chapter one! Yay! Friday 13th focused on Raven, so why not change to Jinx for this sequel? Jinx needs love too. I know it's totally different from my original idea. Please don't kill me. As of yes I'm not sure how many chapters this is going to have, but I can tell you so far I've almost finished chapter three :) **

**And remember those reviews :'D **


	2. Chapter 2

**Review time ****:) **

**Umbra8191**: great chapter i can't wait for the next update.

_Thanks. Wasn't too sure about it myself. At least someone likes it =p_

**Drenn:** Huzzah! The prodigal son returns. The long awaited sequel. The Jinx appears to have Jinxed herself! Well.  
>An interesting first chapter. I'm defiantly seeing the beginnings for a big hero vs. villian conflict with Raven and Jinx. Not to mention the Joker showing up. Which means, possibly the Batman? The seeds of doubt and change have been planted. Now we wait for it to grow, (and YOU to update).<br>Huzzah!

_So I take that the first chapter was okay? It has been quite long awaited hasn't it (oops)_

**Eagle wolf05: **I have to tell you the truth I don't think I like it I'll have to read more to see if I like it but even if i I don't like it I'll read it till the end Becuse I like your stories and I loved Friday the 13

_Ahah I would be interested to know exactly what about it you don't like. I am unsure about writing this because 1) I haven't written anything TT based in months, 2)I've never written a whole story based on Jinx and 3) I'm not used to writing characters like Gizmo and Mammoth. It is a bit daunting._

**Random Peep****:** Ahh I loved this idea! Lol Jinx vs Harley, gotta say that would be interesting to listen to their bickering against each other while fighting... well more Jinx kickin butt. Hee Hee but yes! Awesome job, can't wait to see what happens! xP

_Thanks :) I'm glad the idea isn't a total flop :) And yeah those are two girls in the DC universe that do know how to talk xD Well… comic Jinx is a little more silent but whatever :p_

**black rose-raven angel****: **And here I was thinking the name came from you hearing a bunch of people saying "get your mind out of the gutter" or something like that.  
>Wow... the Joker's getting involved? This should be interesting... I can't wait to see what you do. Also, I really think switching from Raven to Jinx will be a fun change.<br>Till the next update  
>~Rose<p>

_Ahah! Well, that and some other reasons I guess. My mind isn't the healthiest out there. I'm glad you think so! I think it'll be something fun to play around with too. Heres to hoping it isn't a fail!_

**LilithRyoka****:**Well! Look who's back from the dead, and with a brand new name, no less. Welcome back, Mistress!  
>Now, let's get to business. Review won't be as long as usual, and all that jazz I'm sure you already know by now.<br>First of all, my sincere congratulations. I did not catch a single misspelling or error in this chapter. Not a single one. And I checked twice. Compared to your early works, this is a major breakthrough! Nice!  
>Aaand it seems you've changed the very concept of this sequel. I'm not sure exactly why, but am anxious to see these changes more closely nonetheless. Specially with the focus on the zany witch. THAT's going to be interesting!<br>So far so good with all the characters. I had a very tiny problem with picturing Jinx through her lines, but it was gone as soon as it started, so no worries there. And there's not much from all of 'em for me to review properly, this being a small chapter and all.  
>Really? You're going to involve the Joker in all this? Well, I sure do hope you know what you're doing, Mistress. The Joker is a really hard, complex character. And it brings joy to any work, when done properly, so I'm excited to see how things are going to play out!<br>Ooh, ooh, and Harley! Let's not forget Harley. She's also deliciously complex and insane.  
>Mmh. Insanity.<br>Well, I think this closes it for now. Will be checking on the site for your next updates and-oh dear, I've fallen behind on my reviews. Have to go now, Mistress.  
>Ta.<p>

_Thanks. Glad to be back!_

_Yay! No misspeallings! So far anyway haha. Wow. I am happy to hear that. I was writing the chapter up at about two in the morning as well! Well as for why I've changed the concept… I was looking over my old planning/ideas and… I just didn't like it. Too many places for plot holes. You never know, the idea could go towards a third instalment?_

_Yeah I'm a bit out of practice with writing them in character and all. Hopefully that'll improve again. As for the Joke… I know. I'm as nervous as anything about writing him. It'll be a challenge. Yeah. A nice, long, fucking chalange. Same with Harley really. Here's hoping there's enough insanity in me to be able to write them to some… reasonable standard._

_Eagerly awaiting your next review! _

* * *

><p><strong>AN Thanks to those of you who reviewed. It does help. Oh yeah, if my updates slow down, please keep in mind I am in my last year of College (for you Americans out there, I don't mean university. I mean the English version of College.) Half term is here, but I have lots of word to do for a deadline, and my Driving test coming up, so I may be short of time. **

* * *

><p><strong>For added fun, how about a short story about what my immune system has just done? Yes. I'm ill. Again…. <strong>Please note they all have bad American gangsta accents :)

"So boys, it's been two weeks since that last chest infection. An' she blamed it on stress! Not only that, but she's got 'er drivin test coming up. Yah know what I'm thinkin'?"

"We'll show her who's really messin' with her?"

The Boss nodded, the end of his cigar glowing bright orange as he took a drag. "Right you are, Antonio. So. How are we gonna do that?"

"There're some bacteria in 'er throat. We could give her Tonsillitis! She aint had that in ages!"

"I like your thinin' Bruno. Alert the boys in the control room. I want every white blood cell called away from 'er throat."

**Yup. That's my Immune system. A week off and I fall ill -_-**

* * *

><p>Jinx smiled slightly as she caught sight of Raven maker her was towards her. She'd done something, as usual, to make her hair black. Jinx undeniably preferred her natural violet, but understood why the empath chose to be discreet about their relationship.<p>

She tried to scan the park without making it obvious before moving to meet Raven. The meta human was used to her girlfriend being cautious almost to the point where she acted paranoid, however Raven wasn't accustomed to Jinx acting as such, and picked up something was wrong after she received nothing more than a quick kiss. The meta human always had some flamboyant greeting waiting for her.

"Is everything okay?" Raven frowned.

"Sure. I mean, yeah. Everything's fine." She grabbed Raven's hand, offering her a small smile. "How are you, anyway? I mean, I'm not the one who almost died recently."

"I'm fine." She started walking, Jinx falling into step beside her. "More than fine. I've not no lasting damage." She glanced sideways at the girl. "Thanks for looking after me."

"Sure, just don't do it again. Your friends are nice and all, but I feel way uneasy in that tower." She replied, watching Raven frown.

"I suppose… it would go against all your instincts as a villain."

Jinx could feel the moral bomb was about to explode, so quickly tried to move past it. "I was worried bird brain would try to throw me in jail." She chuckled. "I had images of him hiding behind every corner with some… net."

The empath smirked. "Did you steal anything?"

"I am offended that you would even ask!" She gasped dramatically. "I'm going to give it back, all nice and gift-wrapped. I'm sorry, but bird-brain asked for it."

Raven frowned for a moment, before her eyes filled with disbelief, and amusement. "You stole a fork didn't you? I can't believe you!"

"He asked for it!" She repeated, laughing. "And if I give it back, it means I just borrowed it." She shook her head. "What's the plan for today anyway?"

Raven shrugged. "What do you feel like doing?"

She glances around the park. It was fairly empty of people. Too empty, as far was Jinx was currently concerned. "Why don't we see what's playing at the cinema?"

"Are you sure they'll let you in?" Raven asked, looking the villain up and down. Unlike Raven, she'd done nothing to attempt to blend in more.

"Nope, but it's worth a try."

"And if they don't?"

"I'll kick they guys out and we can watch a movie at mine." Jinx smiled.

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be pleased." Raven muttered sarcastically.

"They'll be delighted! They need to get out more anyway." They slipped off the park, the sidewalk a lot busier than the stretch of green had been.

"How did they take your sudden reappearance?"

"They were shocked." Jinx grinned. "They thought I'd left them for good."

"So you're staying with the Hive Five?"

"Yeah…" She looked at Raven. "Is that a… problem?"

Raven's immediate response was a shrug, but the meta-human could tell she was putting some thought into the answer. "Well… it would complicate the fights against you guys, and don't expect me to visit you in prison." She smiled slightly. "Honestly, I'm not happy about it, but if that's where you feel you belong then… I'm not going to try and change that."

"You're being surprisingly… compliant."

The empath laughed. "We're managed like this so far haven't we? Just." She added, upon recalling one of the reasons she had gone after that creature in the first place. "Why change anything?"

"Almost dying must have given you some sort of brain damage. Before the incident I never heard the end of how wrong it was, and how you shouldn't be with the 'bad guy'."

Raven nodded slowly, before shrugging again. "I'll worry about that when I'm on my own." She stopped them in front of a large building, and pointed at the showing list. "Anything worth watching?"

The villain pursed her lips as her eyes scanned the list. "Nah. Let's go watch something at mine." Jinx grinned. "_After_ we've gotten rid of the guys."

* * *

><p>"See Mr J!" A blonde woman pointed towards a couple stood on the side walk, rocking forward on her toes as though it would point them out better. "That's her!" They watched as a black sphere surrounded the two and they disappeared. "And that's the Raven girl. She's part of that team Robin made after he left Bats."<p>

The man watched the now empty pavement a moment longer, before he burst into a smile. "It's been a long time since I've seen dicky-bird."

"But we're going to get the pink-haired bitch too, right?"

He turned to shout at her, his had raised, but stopped mid-motion. "Yes. If we get her, the little friend will be distracted and that will mean one less person to get in the way. Wouldn't want anyone to interrupt our reunion. There's no time to waste! We need to get a BIG supprise ready for Robin." He laughed, turning to walk back down the side walk. "We wouldn't want to disappoint him."

"And what about Bats?"

"Oh he'll probably show up eventually. He never misses out on the fun. And if he does turn up… well, the more the merrier! It'll be like a family reunion!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN Everyone should know who the last two characters are. I told you I had changed waay from the original idea. Let me know what you think. Where are those critical minds? **

**Oh yeah, and thanks for reading :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**You know what I've been forgetting? That ****Disclaimer.**** You know, the one where I point out that I don't own Teen Titans. That's DCs privilege. Lucky bastards. **

**Review time!**

**Random Peep:** Lol ahh I'm still laughing that she stole the fork, well borrowed it. Still, Robin set himself up for that one. Anyways looking forward to whats gonna happen next! =P

_Ahah I'm glad I'm not the only one who still finds that amusing! I'm glad you are – here's to hoping that what comes next and keep to your expectations!_

**Black Fang 02:** I bet When something happens to Jinx, Raven is going to lose her shit. and then everybody's fucked. I love even the idea of Mr. J coming to Jump city. I cannot wait for the rest. Good job.

_Ahah you can see that happening, can't you? Glad you liked. I've played around with the idea before. The only problem is actually writing Mr J. He's such a perfect character ;) _

**Concolor44**: Crazy is as crazy does ... and Joker packs plenty of crazy when he goes visiting.  
>Yeah, as Jinx said, he's just a human. But he's incredibly intelligent, totally unpredictable, and utterly without scruples. Seriously, someone should have put a .308 TAP round in his noggin before now. Sure would un-complicate things. And it isn't as if he doesn't have enemies.<br>Looking forward eagerly to more of this!

_Joker is the MEANING of crazy! You got that right. The only problem now is writing him! It's NOT going to be easy, that's for sure. So many things he could effect regarding the normal running of Jump. Glad you like it!_

**Eagle wolf05: **I don't know why I don't like it it might be Becuse your focusing more on jinx then raven it might be Becuse it's nothing like the other sequel you started but I do like this chapter better if it keeps getting better and I know it will I know I'll start to like it so don't give up on it

_I can understand why a total change from the original idea could make you like it less. Hell, it happens with me too! I'm glad you liked chapter 2, however. And that you have some confidence in it! Here's hoping you like chapter 3 even more. _

**Umbra8191: **great chapter i can't wait for the next update.

_:)_

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **Can't wait for the big plan. But since it's Mr. J's plan it must be somehow insane.

_Yes, insane HAS to fit in there somewhere. It wouldn't be any fun otherwise, would it? _

* * *

><p><strong>Right, chapter 3. See, I'm back into my old patterns of updating. Which is great. But keep in mind, I'm ignoring some real important coursework for you guys. Aren't you feeling loved? So, while you read things, I'm gonna go and try and get some of that shit written. <strong>

* * *

><p>"Jinx! Are you getting up today, or not?" Gizmo yelled as he banged on the bedroom door, his small fists making more noise than they should have been capable of.<p>

Raven moved her body colder to Jinx's, and hid her face against the meta human's shoulder as though it would block out the noise. Jinx pulled her pillow out from underneath her head and threw it at the door as the miniature villain knocked again.

"Whatever. I cracked through the security, just so you have some incentive to get up." He said once he didn't get a reply. "Not that it's going to help us any unless you get your butt out of bed." They listened to Gizmo's footsteps fade away as he walked back down the corridor.

"Not even villains get to sleep in, huh?" Raven murmured as Jinx's hand found the titan's violet hair, her fingers running through it almost absentmindedly.

"Occasionally." She replied.

"So, this security Gizmo mentioned…"

Jinx could feel the girl's smile against her shoulder, and broke into a grin herself. "Is none of your business."

"Why do I get the feeling it's going to become my business?" She propped herself up on her elbow, attempting to hide her yawn. Usually she had no problem getting up in a morning, however the empath was reluctant to leave Jinx's warm embrace. "What time is it?"

Jinx looked at her bedside table, bending slightly at her waist in order to see over the small pile of books she had piled there. Noticing the Joker card sat there, she purposely knocked it down the back of the table as she reached for her clock, hoping Raven hadn't seen it. "Half ten."

"Okay, that's a lot later than Robin would allow."

"I know." Jinx smiled." He wasn't exactly quiet with his wake-up calls."

Raven lowered herself so Jinx's shoulder was acting as her pillow once more. "I forgot to call Robin. I'm surprised he didn't give us an earlier wake-up call."

"Is he going to tell you off?" The meta human grinned.

"Probably. Although I obviously wasn't needed for anything." She frowned, rolling away from Jinx and sitting up, her legs over the edge of the bed. "Still, I should probably be going."

"He doesn't have the right to complain. You're such a good little soldier the rest of the time."

Raven turned to frown at her, watching the girl as she swung her white legs over the side of the bed before she walked over to her wardrobe, the pink and black painted panels in colour coordination with the rest of the room. Although Raven would never admit it out loud, her associations with the colour pink were slowly turning it into a more favourable colour.

"You want a cup of tea before you leave?"

"What, so you can give Gizmo the hint that he's not allowed to randomly shout schemes out anymore?"

"You trying to say I'm not allowed to be polite and caring?"

"No. Not unless you get something out of it." The empath muttered, offering Jinx a smile.

"Fine. That's the last time I nurse you back to health."

Raven laughed slightly as she stood and searched for the clothes she had been wearing yesterday. "I'm hoping I won't need nursing again."

"Yeah, you and me both." Jinx frowned slightly. "I'm like you're not like, bitching about our situation."

"So am I." She smiled, clasping her bra before pulling on her top.

"So, do you want that drink?"

"No. Thank you, but no. I have to get back to the tower." She picked up her boots off the floor, holding them with one hand as she walked up to Jinx. "It might scare your team mates if a titan randomly walks into their common room, and I'd rather not aggravate Robin any more than necessary. He is still my leader."

The meta human nodded, accepting her girlfriend's goodbye kiss. "You know Gizmo's expression would be amusing to see. I'll see you later."

Raven arched her brow. "Whatever security Gizmo's been working on, he's going to have missed something."

"Why do you think I said 'see you later?'" Jinx grinned, watching the emapth shake her head as her dark energy began to swallow her.

She waited until the titan had disappeared before she moved over to her bedside table and grabbed the playing card, off the floor, staring at it a moment before dropping it back down where it had originally been sat. A tight knot and formed low in her gut. It didn't matter what she had told Gizmo. The Joker was human, sure, but he was also everything the Hive Five weren't. Unpredictable, merciless, insane, deadly, and experienced. They couldn't hope to win.

"Are you coming or not?" Gizmo's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Just give me a minute!" Jinx impatiently yelled back.

She wouldn't get Raven involved, not if she could help it, even though Jinx knew they would need the help. After all, it was no secret Robin had experience with the mad man from his time with Batman in Gotham.

"It would be now when I develop some moral standing. Damn it, Jinx."

* * *

><p>The three villains studied the bank from the alleyway opposite, the darkness giving them almost perfect cover.<p>

"You sure you can disable all the alarms?" Jinx asked the miniature genius.

"Certain."

They waited as the last of the staff left the building in their fancy suits. The lights flickered off one by one as everything was put into lockdown.

"Okay, so there should only be three guys left in the building now." Gizmo announced as the last car drove away. "Security. All of them packing one of those laser guns the police seem to prefer."

"Then they're our first priority. We don't want them calling for back up. Knock them out and tie them up." Jinx nodded. "Gizmo start shutting off the alarms and security cameras."

"On it." The small boy nodded, opening the small touch screen panel that seemed to be permanently attached to his left arm. "And… that's the last one." He grinned, looking up at Jinx. "Wi-Fi is way too easy to hack."

"Good. Remember, don't let the guards see you." She ordered as she stepped out of the alleyway. "We don't want the titans showing up."

"Sneaking isn't one of our strong points." Mammoth muttered.

"Well make it one." Jinx scanned the street before sending a pink hex at the window next to the bank's door.

It shattered into a mass of webs, and hung in its frame a moment before the first pieces dropped. The tiny shards glittered like rain in the streetlights as they rained down on the carpet inside the building's lobby. It barely made a sound, the soft floor muffling it. They climbed through and quickly crouched behind one of the worker's desks for cover.

"The guards should be running routes." Gizmo whispered. "They only cross once, so if we're quick we should be able to take them out one by one without alerting anyone."

"This is going to be too easy." Jinx smiled.

* * *

><p>Robin frowned as klaxons filled the tower, echoing off the walls. He moved his attention off the crime report he had been reading and onto the monitor, switching the alarm off before he began to read the information it gave him.<p>

"What's the case?" Cyborg asked as he entered the common room, closely followed by the three remaining titans.

"A silent alarm's been triggered in the bank just off from the Central Park. The rest of the security is either switched off or has been destroyed, because that's all it's telling me."

Raven smiled slightly, remembering the conversation she'd had with Jinx that morning. She was almost 100% sure they'd find the Hive Five there. "Then why are we still here? It would be rude to keep them waiting."

* * *

><p>Jinx threw hex after hex at the large metal door – the only thing standing between them and the vaults – trying to weaken it. She stepped back as the door began to groan in protest, and motioned Mammoth forward with a wave of her hand. The giant ran forward, slamming his shoulder into the door with as much force as he could muster. Metal screamed, and he left a sizable dent.<p>

"You sure this is going to work?" Gizmo frowned.

"It has to." She replied as Mammoth backed up again.

"We could always blow it up."

"No. That would make too much noise."

Mammoth ran at the door again, grunting as he bounced back, almost losing his balance.

"You missed a silent alarm, Gizmo. Very sloppy."

The boy yelled in surprise upon hearing Raven's voice, and he spun around, the others following his lead. "Crap."

"Don't move." Robin ordered. "You're under arrest for…"

"The hell we are." Jinx grinned, sending a pink hex in their direction, which Raven blocked easily with a shield.

"You should have started with an easier target." The empath suggested as she dropped her shield. "You are a couple of weeks out of practice."

Robin frowned at his team mate, before throwing several disks at the feet of the Hive Five. They exploded upon impact, knocking Jinx and Gizmo back, and making Mammoth stumble. "Titans GO!"

Their leader ran straight towards Jinx as soon as the words had left his mouth, extending his bo-staff, Starfire close behind him. The meta human looked up just in time to see one of Starfire's starbolts screaming towards her. She threw herself into a back flip as she dodged the green ball of energy, barely having enough time to regain her balance before she was forced to duck under Robin's bo-staff.

"I am grateful for what you have done for friend Raven, however you are a villain, and it is my job to bring you to justice." The Tamerainian spoke as she aimed another starbolt.

Jinx quickly backed up on her toes, putting some distance between herself and Robin. "It's cool." She smiled up at Starfire. "Nothing personal."

The pink eyed meta human sent a hex towards the girl, which she easily moved around. Starfire did, however, have to let the starbolt dissipate as she lost her aim.

"Robin!"

All three paused to look at the source of the yell. Raven stood awkwardly, as though she might lose her balance at any moment, one had holding her head. "Raven? What's wrong?"

"Someone's in the building." Her voice was strained.

"Someone ALWAYS has to ruin the surprise!"

Robin's body tensed at the sound of the cackling voice, his eyes searching the area for the madman he would never forget.

"Shit." Jinx took a step backwards, stumbling slightly as she too tried to look for the villain.

"So, it wasn't ruined after all. Good! We wouldn't want to disappoint. Harley, send the boys in. We don't want anyone trying to escape now, do we?"

"You hear that? You kids have got to be extra nice for Mr J." A woman spoke up, her heavy Brooklyn accent giving the words a rhythmic tone. "I'm sure we can all play nicely together."


	4. Chapter 4

**Reviews!**

**Concolor44: **GAAAHHHH! ALREADY? CRAP!  
>Okay, maybe with the Titans AND the H.I.V.E. working together - if they will - they can all get away more or less unscathed.<br>I hope.

_Yeah, I wasn't expecting him to appear this soon either. Damn him. _

**Echo of an Idiot: **J's here and ready to f*ck up some sh*t. And whats more there are two already fighting parties to f*ck up. ITS S THREEWAY CLUSTERF*CK AND EVERYONE'S INVITED! WOOT! I wonder if he will go more for Robin or Jinx? God help him if he goes for Jinx, Raven I'll probably take that building down as well. Well that's alll I've got for now. Nice chapter and please do update soon.  
>Waiting impatiently for the next chapter,<br>Echo of an Idiot.

_Gah! Too many sides to choose from! How about this update? Was it quick enough for you?_

**Black Fang 02: **We love you too SepticMind. Raven and Jinx...not morning people,I'm Shocked(*sarcasm)! Of course the hive won't win. It's like pitting a peewee baseball team against the Yankees. She really should get around to telling Raven so she can just eat the Joker. Morals are an infection...I thought Jinx knew that. How did Raven know he was there...Because his insanity is so explosively loud that her empathy picked up on it the second he got close enough. Can't wait for the next chapter!

_:p the bad guys always seem like they shouldn't be up before lunch. As for Raven, I'd imagine she isn't too keen on sunrises. I would say nice anology there, but I'm English so I don't watch baseball. I don't even watch that much TV. Oops :) Ahah morals are an infection damn it. And YAY empaths! Or maybe not. You could imagine the Joker's mind leaving you with a pretty bad headache. _

**Random Peep: **Dun Dunn Dahhh! Lol wasn't expecting them to show up so soon... then again...  
>you never really know whats gonna happen with the joker. Anyways, loved it and can't wait to see what happens! xP<p>

_Hey, he surprised me, and I'm the one writing it! Glad you loved it! _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Single this Valentine day? So am I. Why did you think Jinx and Raven are getting so much of my love? Don't expect these updates to last. I really do have coursework to get done… it's just that it COULD wait a little while longer. I'm having so much fun writing this after all. Oh yeah, thanks to everyone who dropped a review. Anyone else out there want to share their thoughts?**

* * *

><p>They heard something drop to the floor seconds before pillars of smoke filled the room, blinding both the Teen Titans and the Hive Five.<p>

"If it wasn't for your little blackbird, you wouldn't have even realised we were here." The Joker spoke up from his hiding place. "We haven't quite finished our preparation – we were only stopping by to observe. But I do love a little chaos. Don't you, Robin my boy? It spices life up quite nicely."

Jinx's eyes started picking up figured through the smoke. More figures than there should have been. She crouched low and covered her mouth with her hand as her body tried to clear the smoke in her lungs. She didn't want to give her position away until she at least had a clear shot.

"How did you know we were here?" He addressed Raven, his curiosity plain to hear.

The meta-human smiled when she didn't hear Raven answer. She studied the smoke around her and caught sight of Starfire not four feet away. She couldn't see Robin, however, and was betting him and the empath had used the cover to slip away to a better vantage point.

"You'd better answer the question. It's not good to keep Mr J waiting."

"Hush Harley. Let them have their fun. Though I thought they would have been more vocal than the Bats. Perhaps they'll prove more of a challenge than I thought. I do hate it when a game ends early."

Still crouched, Jinx made her way over to Starfire, the alien becoming clearer to see as the smoke lifted. "I've got your back if you've got mine." She whispered, smiling slightly.

Starfire nodded. "I believe Robin moved to a more sheltered place. Once the Joker sees that he is missing, we might not have much time before his men start shooting."

"Probably." Jinx muttered, not sure if that would hold true, seeing that she was one of the people the Joker was after.

"Fine." The Gotham villain's voice seemed to echo throughout the room, and Jinx realised she could pick out details on the henchmen. She quickly decided she highly disliked the clown masks. "I'm sure we can find some way of getting you to talk. Boys, the one who takes out the girl with the pink hair will be doing Harley a personal favour. You never know, she might even decide to reward you!" He chuckled.

The sound of guns being fired filled the air almost instantly. Jinx never even had time to scream. Her panic turned into confusion as she was met not with pain, but with the loud yet flat echo of ricocheting bullets. She glanced up, lowering her hands from her face, to find a semi-transparent black sphere surrounding her and Starfire. She could see the gun men. At least, she could see their outlines in white. She could also see each bullet that hit the shield. She couldn't see Raven , however.

The men suddenly ceased fire, following some unseen signal, but she shield didn't drop.

"Oh, now that's cheating!" The Joker giggled. The smoke had almost cleared, letting the madman see he was short two titans. "Birdies, if you show yourselves, I'll show myself. That's fair, isn't it?"

There was a moment where nothing happened, before a portal opened next to Jinx and Raven and Robin stepped out of it. The empath let the shield drop at her leader's urging, but moved to stand slightly in front of Jinx, shielding the meta-human with her body. Pink eyes searched for the four boys, and found them moving slowly towards them, as though they were waiting for the thugs to open fire.

"Good. Come on Harley."

Two of the med in clown masks stepped aside to let a tall, lanky man in a purple pin-stripe suit step forward, a smile spread on his chalk white face. Harley Quinn skipped forward, and the two henchmen moved back into place.

"Do you like them?" The Joker asked Robin as he motioned towards the med lining the room. "They're local thugs. I didn't have enough time to fetch the Black Gate boys. It's a shame. They could have loved to see you again."

"What do you want?" Robin asked, glaring at the villain.

"I'm helping Harley run a little errand. Tell you what, why not do a bit of a deal? You let us leave with her-" He pointed at Jinx with a gloved hand. "-And we'll leave you alone. For now."

Raven's eyes flashed white as she took a step forward. "If you, Harley or one of your men so much as even touch her, I'll kill each and every one of you."

"Good guys aren't meant to be the ones dishing out death threats." Cyborg muttered as the Joker broke into laughter.

"Oh I like you. You have a fighting spirit!" He turned his attention to Robin. "What would Bats say if he knew the little blackbird was flirting with the other side? Maybe he wouldn't care. He's done his own frolicking, after all. So, what will it be, Robbie boy? We got a deal?"

"I don't make deals with villains. Especially not with you."

"A pity. I was going to have the boys shoot you all, but I'm interested to see how this plays out." He grinned, looking back at Raven and Jinx. "Batman's never this much fun."

He looked at Harley and the woman smiled, pulling two cans from her belt. "We'll be seeing you later. Me and Mr J have some preparations to finish!"

Robin rushed forward as soon as the cans hit the floor, swinging his bo-staff round in and arch, the metal meeting nothing but air as a pillar of smoke hit him straight in the face, causing him to cough.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe this!" Robin was close to shouting as he paced back and forth. They were still in the bank. The police wouldn't arrive on the scene until they receive a call from one of the titans letting them know it was safe.<p>

"Sorry. It's my fault he's here. Me and that Harley woman… may have had a disagreement at some point." Jinx muttered.

"What were you thinking, threatening the Joker of all people?" He turned on Raven, who was still stood protectively next to the meta human. "He'll take it as a personal challenge."

"Let him play his little game." She replied. "I know exactly what I was thinking."

"Star, Cyborg, put them in cuffs and make sure they get to the jail. I need to get in touch with Batman."

"Jinx is staying where I can see her." Raven shook her head, glaring as Cyborg as he stepped forward.

"Now do you see why dating a villain isn't an option? This is a crime scene, and she's going to jail."

"He will kill her. Ever you can't condemn her to that."

"She'll be safe behind bars."

"Like hell she will, Robin! If Arkham can't keep the Joker in, Jump Penitentiary definitely isn't going to keep him out."

"Yo, guys! I'm right here you know. I'm a big girl. I can look after myself. Though if I do get a say in this, I'd rather not be trapped behind bars when he finds me."

"Either she says in the tower or I'll protect her elsewhere." Raven threatened, ignoring the meta human's input.

"You can't hope to fight him. He's a mad man! Not to mention you know next to nothing about him or his fighting style." Robin tried to stare the empath down, to no avail. "Fine! They can stay in the tower until the Joker has been dealt with." He gave up, his face scrunched up with pain at the decision. "But they're under constant surveillance."

"'They'?" Beast Boy frowned.

"If the Joker can't find Jinx, he might go after Mammoth and Gizmo. So yes, 'they'. This man is totally unpredictable. That means we have to try and cover every possible angle." He shook his head. Talk about a bitter pill to swallow. "God knows what Batman is going to think about this mess."

* * *

><p>"Jinx, why didn't you tell me sooner? It's obvious you knew something like this was going to happen."<p>

The meta human watched Raven pace up and down her room from her stop on Raven's bed, her shoulders tense with emotions she was trying to suppress.

"I didn't think it was your problem." She shrugged.

"What if he had attacked when we weren't around? You most probably would have been dead by now!" Raven stressed.

"Yeah, well why didn't you ask for my help against the shadow dude? We both knew your demon wasn't going to hurt me."

"That isn't what we're talking about!"

"So? It's still the same principle. Hypocrite." Jinx muttered.

"Jinx you are a lot more fragile than I am. I wouldn't have risked your life like that."

"And I wouldn't risk yours, okay? That doesn't give you the right to baby me though!" The meta human scowled, walking quickly towards the bedroom door.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from you." She replied sharply before slipping out the door.

Jinx moved through the corridors like a storm as she made her way towards the common room, muttering angrily under her breath the whole way there. She was aware of everyone looking up as the doors slip open but ignored them, all but throwing herself onto the sofa next to an uncomfortable looking Mammoth.

"Where's Raven?" Robin asked her.

"In her room." She scowled.

"Has someone had an argument?" Cyborg grinned.

"She treats me like I'm a five year old. An annoying, helpless five year old that does nothing but get in the way." She sulked, sinking further down into the chair.

"That's Raven's strange way of showing that she cares." Beast Boy laughed. "Don't worry, even Robin get's that treatment. Just ignore her when she's in a foul mood. That's what I do, and it always works for me."

Gizmo and Mammoth glanced at each other, slightly disturbed at how easily their leader conversed with the titans.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Not sure if I liked this chapter or not. Let me know what you think. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Black Fang 02: **Chaos is the spice of life, because order alone would lead to death. Of course Raven cheats, she may be a hero, but she's not stupid. Whatever it takes to survive. Did they really expect the Titans to give her up like that? Even Robin wouldn't, and that's saying something. They aren't? I thought death threats were the way to go...guess i was wrong. Did Robin really expect to hit them? tsk tsk. And thinking of putting them in jail is just stupid...Arkham has at LEAST twice the security of Jump city Penitentiary and he expects that to keep the Joker out? Now that was really a joke. And of course Raven knew what she was doing. Drawing his attention. Raven has either too much or too little emotion toward those she cares about I would go with the too much. Great job on this chapter. And I can't wait for the next.

_I like your analysis of everything that's going on. It's nice to see how someone else might be picking up the story, and whether it was how I intended or not. _

**Eagle wolf05: **at the start of this fic I didn't like it but now I do I like this chapter but I think the meeting with the joker is missing somthing I don't know what it is but I fell ilke it missing something but other then that great chapter

_I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, I'm not used to writing the Joker. I wasn't too happy with it myself. _

**Random Peep: **Awww a lover's quarrel. Lol there both too worried about each other that  
>they're not too worried about themselves. Its cute, anyways can't wait to see<br>what happens! =P

_Ahah. They are. Glad to know you like it :)_

**Echo of an Idiot: **Why yes it was fast enough. Scary fast. Well so long as Im here I might as well drop a review. So here goes, I'll say though Robin did seem a little conflicted on the options presented you'd think Raven wouldn't need to remind him just how easily that man can get in and out of prisons. But then again he probably just didn't want a group of criminals roaming around his tower. Well that's all for now. Please don't kill yourself getting the rest of the story  
>out in record time. Though it might get this one out sooner I for one still need to see how Hunted will end.<br>Waiting slightly less impatiently for the next chapter,  
>Echo of an Idiot.<p>

_Hmm I think he was just trying to avoid having villains roam his tower! Ahah Hunted is going to go through the works again I think. I'll see if my Muse will let me make it my next focus. _

**Angelic Toaster: **I love it, like SERIOUSLY LOVED it! Especially the was Raven acted and BB's  
>advice...<br>And Mammoth and Gizmo's thoughts at the end about Jinx conversing with the titans? Not many authors would think to put that, but I'm seriously glad that you did! Sorry I haven't been reviewing...  
>Again, I LOVED it! PLEASE update SOON!<p>

_Ahah good. I'm glad you like it. Yeah I wanted to write a bit more about how uncomfortable Mammoth and Gizmo are feeling, but I couldn't make it fit anywhere. Ahah don't worry about that! One review is good enough for me. _

**Concolor44: **Yeah, that sounds about like the Joker. Games, games, and more games.  
>Now ... how long will it take before Giz starts trying to hack Cyborg, and Mammoth and Starfire have a wrestling match? I wanna see!<p>

_Ahah! Not long I would say. They've got to give into temptation soon enough. _

**Havelock Vetinari: **Well, I liked it better than the last 3. Looks like you're getting your touch  
>back.<p>

_Yeah, I think I spent a little too long away on a writing free holiday. Sorry about that. Glad to hear it's getting back up to my normal pace though. _

**SHADOW: **First off, I have to tell you that I love your work. I have read Friday 13 and just started this story tonight and already like how it is playing out. That being said, my only critique is to spend a little more time on the review process, there are a few mistakes that, mainly due to my Drama and English teachers pounding the review step into my brain, throw me off and I have to re-read one line a few times to get the point. One such instance occurs in this chapter when it says "...Two of the med in clown masks..." I assume that you meant "MEN" instead of "MED". other than that there are a few instances of simple word confusion where "COULD" is used in a place where "WOULD" would make much more sense.

That is all for the grammatical criticism, now for the plot/story critique. Gizmo is portrayed with too high a level of maturity, and The Joker is not near insane enough. That's all I have for now. All things considered, I do love the story and I look forward to reading your future works.

_Ahah thanks. So far, so okay, huh? =p Ah, yes. Proof reading. It's not a strength of mine. To be honest, I could go through it 100 times and still miss things. I was born severely dyslexic. While paid help has pushed me so far, I still struggle. Not that I'm using it for an excuse. Thanks for pointing it out. At least I know where about I'm going wrong, especially with the grammar thing. I'll try and keep a closer eye on it for you :)Also note that I usually write these at 1 in the morning. Heh. My spelling and grammar will often get worse the later it gets. _

_Okay, notes taken on Gizmo. He is a lot more childish in the animation, I agree. I think I've been spending too much time with the comics recently haha. Yeah. The Joker. He's a hard one. I'll see if I can push up his insanity level. I'm using a lot of characters I wouldn't usually use. It's throwing me off a bit. THANK YOU for that! A major help, and I will be taking each point into consideration for my future chapters. _

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **This is going fast. :)

_Ahah! It'll be slowing down a bit now I think. Or at least the times between updates will calm down. But if you mean storyline… yeah, I'm trying to make this a short one (shorter than Friday 13__th__ anyway) because 1)I really do want to finish another story on here. I feel guilty that I keep taking them down and re-editing them. 2) I'm supposed to be writing a novella for my EPQ coursework and it's getting ignored thanks to Jinx and Raven. Go figure. _

* * *

><p>Robin looked up from his coffee as the doors to the common room slid open, and Jinx and Raven walked through. "You two are up early."<p>

"Tell me about it." Jinx yawned. "Apparently, Raven uses an alarm clock."

"Heroes can't pick and choose when to fight crime. It's the villains that get the luxury of choosing their time tables." The empath retorted as she moved past Robin, towards the kettle. "Not to mention, old habits die hard."

"Old habits? Who the hell willingly gets up at six every morning?"

"Robin's awake, isn't he? You should consider yourself lucky. Until a few years ago, I had to be awake for four every morning." She pulled two mugs down from the cupboard. "Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee." Jinx hopped up onto the bar stool next to Robin, looking at the Titan's leader. "Please tell me she's joking about the four thing."

"I wouldn't know. I had nothing to do with her back then."

"So, what time do you get up? Before six, I'm guessing, since you've had time to make coffee."

"Pulling a heist before we've gotten up for the day won't give you an advantage." He shook his head. "So don't even think about trying it."

"You never heard of simple small talk?"

"Simple small talk? I'm not stupid. I was trained to understand exactly how villains think, and I'm telling you now, it wouldn't work."

"He's good." The meta human told Raven as she took the offered mug, before grabbing the coffee pot from its place next to Robin's elbow. "Okay, you got me there, but I bet you didn't notice the item that went missing from your tower last time I was here."

"Enlighten me."

"Not such a great boy detective after all." She grinned, sipping her coffee.

Raven tried to hide her smile as she answered. "Apparently, she stole a fork."

"Borrowed. I'm going to give it back at some point." Jinx spoke quickly, smiling like the Cheshire cat.

Robin turned his gaze onto Raven, and the empath shrugged, before turning back to the kettle. "Don't look at me. I distinctly remember being on medical leave during her last stay here."

He let out a frustrated sigh, running his gloved hand through his hair, before changing the topic. "I got in touch with Batman. He's on his way to Jump now. He should be here in a few hours. Good luck in finding a way of explaining this mess to him."

"We're screwed." Jinx muttered.

"Us? You know Batman won't let you off lightly." Raven frowned.

"I know. But you can tell him exactly why we're housing the Hive Five."

"Good idea. Rae, you better come up with something convincing because the colour orange clashes badly with my hair. Either that, or get Jump Penitentiary to change its colour scheme."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but who made the first move? This is your fault. You think of something 'convincing'."

"You're the one who threatened Robin into letting me and the boys stay at the tower." Jinx countered.

"You were still the one who decided to attract my attention in the first place."

"Hey, it's not like I'd planned for that to be a two sided thing." Jinx shook her head. "That's your fault."

"Don't think I'm forgotten about that." The empath glared.

Everyone pulled their attention to the doors as they opened, and Cyborg walked into the room, pausing once he realised he was being watched.

"Cyborg!" Robin didn't even bother trying to hide the relief in his voice.

"Hey Cy." The meta human smiled, before turning back to Raven. "He's not going to question me; it's your fault I'm in the tower. You're the one that need the excuse."

Cyborg pointed wordlessly at the two girls, waiting for Robin to explain.

"I've spoken with Batman, and he's on his way to Jump. These two are meant to be figuring out how they're going to explain the Hive Five's presence to Batman. Instead they're using it as an excuse to argue."

"Arguing this early in the morning isn't a good thing. You're obviously both just hungry. I'll make breakfast!" Cyborg declared with a smile.

"I vote for pancakes! And don't hold back on the syrup. The more, the better."

"Jinx, that's disgusting." The empath frowned. "How have you not dissolved your teeth yet?"

"Now, now girls. Save the domestics for later. Robin, you cool with pancakes?"

They boy wonder shrugged, reaching across the breakfast bar for the newspaper. "Whatever."

"Raven, you don't get a say since you never eat before noon, Beast Boy won't eat anything I've touched… Yo, Jinx, what about your two?"

"Count them in."

The robotic teen walked over to the fridge, muttering to himself. "Mammoth's obviously going to eat a lot. A hope double the usual will do, otherwise we're going to have a problem."

"Batman will work it out." Raven told Robin, drawing his attention off the newspaper. "Why can't you just tell him exactly what's going on? The worst he can do is disapprove."

"Exactly."

"He's not your mentor anymore."

"And if one of the Monks from Azarath suddenly turned up?"

"They'd claim that my relationship with Jinx was an obvious sign of corruption. And I would ignore them."

"Would they? They don't need to worry about you corrupting any more. You killed Trigon. They've got nothing left to teach you."

"Killed Him?" Raven let out a startled sound that could have passed for a laugh. "He's still out there, trapped back in His own dimension until He regains His power. He will try to gain access to this dimension again, possibly through me. If the Monks had it their way, I'd be locked up back in Azarath until His next passing. The thing you were trained to fight – the villains – are always going to there, just like my father is still there, but Batman gave up his duty of guiding you the moment you left his side. You've got to live for yourself too, Robin. You and the Titans taught me that. Batman had his way of dealing with things. That doesn't mean it's what is right for you, too."

"Something tells me we're talking about more than Robin's fear of disappointing Bats." Jinx spoke up.

"Nothing for you to worry about, Jinx." Cyborg replied quickly.

"Is it one of those 'don't give the enemy insight' things?"

"Yup."

"No fair! You can't keep throwing these things around in front of my face. The curiosity is going to kill me! At least wait until I'm not around. Now, can I just proudly say I was a major help in making Rae 'live for herself' before you guys take all the credit?"

"Shut up, Jinx." Raven fought to keep the smile off her face.

"Before this turns into another argument, can one of you please round up the others? Breakfast will be ready in half an hour, and I'm sure Robin wants to inform everyone Batman's on his way…" Cyborg prodded the meta human with the end of his wooden spoon. "Jinx, if you'd be so kind."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Jinx slid off the bar stool, taking her drink with her. "Enjoy your 'secret' little talk."

"Raven, of all the people in the world to choose from…" Cyborg commented after he'd watched the villain leave the room.

"Excuse me, but who had a crush on her during his time under cover at H.I.V.E Academy?"

"That… I was just… it's was pretend. To make me fit in better." He spluttered defensively.

"You're just jealous."

"Her personality is starting to rub off on you, and that isn't a good thing." He muttered, turning back to his pancake mix.

* * *

><p>As Jinx tried to meet the hardened gaze of the Dark Knight, she decided she'd never felt quite so intimidated before.<p>

"You failed to mention you were housing criminals. Care to explain, Robin?"

The boy wonder threw a glare in Raven's direction, before answering. "It's complicated."

Batman looked up at his former side-kick, still wearing the same expression. "Complicated or not, I want an answer."

"When the Joker made his appearance, he made it seem like Jinx was one of his main targets. We… debated on what to do, and for their safety, and due to certain associations with team members, they're being kept here under surveillance until we've dealt with the Joker."

"Certain associations?" They could see his brow rise even through the mask, before he sighed heavily. "Who's involved with whom?"

Robin cringed, and Raven stepped forward slightly, drawing attention to herself. "That would be me and Jinx. You can save the lectures. I think that between Robin and myself, we have covered all of them."

Batman's eyes moved between the two girls a moment, before he looked back at Robin. "I need to know everything that has happened so far involving the Joker. Jinx, I also want to know how exactly you gained the Joker's attention."

"It wasn't him I pissed off." Jinx muttered. "It was Harley."

"Oh?"

"It was ages ago. We were running a small errand for a client in Gotham. We just happened to bump into her. She threw a few insults my way so I repaid the favour." She shrugged. "I may have broken the glass she was holding."

"May have?"

"I'm bad luck; hexes and stuff. If it was my fault it was an overflow. I hadn't planned on doing it. I'm not stupid."

"It would seem unlikely that the Joker would help Harley seek revenge unless it would somehow benefit him too. They must have found out about your link to the titans. I can imagine him indulging Harley Quinn if he thought he might get a chance of going against Robin. Who knows you two are together?"

Jinx and Raven glanced at each other, both shrugging.

"Everyone in this room." Raven answered. "We've been seen together around Jump, although I always altered my appearance somewhat, and played the civilian. We haven't been advertising it."

"Someone must have recognised you both. Someone within the crime circuit."

Jinx glared at Gizmo and Mammoth, but they held their hands up defensively.

"What are you looking at us for?" Gizmo frowned. "We aint told no one. Talk about bad rep."

"This is why superheroes and villains alike have secret identities." Batman shook his head.

"What? So they can play about with those on the opposite side behind each other's backs? Do tell." The meta human retorted. "Besides, the whole secret identity thing works best if you _don't_ have abnormal colouring. Not that you would know about that."

"He'll be counting on your bonds as a team." Batman continued, ignoring her. "And on Raven's ties to Jinx. And it worked."

"Two birds with one stone." Cyborg muttered.

"Three, now Batman's here." Raven shook her head. "The Joker's going to have a field day with this one."

"Robin, you and I will deal with this. The rest of you will only get in our way."

"We work as a team." Cyborg spoke up. "If Robin goes, we all do."

"It would take too long to train you all. You are not suited to fighting the Joker."

"Robin's put us through our paces more than once. We know the basics for how to deal with this guy, and we can follow orders." The changeling put on his best serious face.

"Fine. Robin, you start looking for the Joker and figure out what he's planning. Hopefully I can teach the rest of you something before he makes his next move."

"I want to fight too." Jinx spoke up, drawing attention to herself. "I mean, I am one of the targets after all."

"No." The Dark Knight shook his head, glancing at Raven. "Having you both of the field would endanger everything. Your focus _must_ be on the Joker."

"I agree with Batman." Raven muttered, watching Jinx. "Not only would it divert my attention, it could endanger everyone if you were to get injured, or worse, during combat. You saw what happened when that shadow being targeted you."

"Oh no, I am not being kept out of this. If Harley wants a fight, she's got one. I am not…"

"Raven's abilities will be invaluable for this." Robin interrupted. "If someone has to sit out, it will have to be you, Jinx."

"For all we know the clown might pull off the fight if I'm not there!" The meta human argued. "I have to be there!"

"Knowing the Joker, he would want a big standoff with everyone there." Batman frowned unhappily. "I just want a guarantee that neither of you will let your emotions interfere with this." He glanced at Robin. "And the same goes for you and Starfire."

"Do not worry. We are most used to putting emotions aside during the combat. And if Jinx does join us, we would all have a fighting partner, no?" The Tamerainian looked at Robin. "Minus the Batman, of course."

"They would need training so they could fight in sync with each other, and then training with the whole team; something that would usually take months. Considering we have no idea when the Joker's going to strike, that's a lot to do. Add Batman's training on top of that…" The boy wonder shook his head.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Jinx spoke. "The sooner we get started, the better."

"Raven?" Robin looked at the empath.

She frowned, before shrugging. "I can treat her just like I treat the rest of you during a fight. I don't like it though."

"An hour. If the two of you can't decently fight together after that then we're just going to have to hope the Joker doesn't miss you too much, Jinx." Batman decided. "Unless anyone has any objections, everyone to the gym, now."

* * *

><p>"We'll start with the basics." Batman motioned at Robin for him to join them on the mats. "Stick to hand-to-hand combat. You need to trust that you partner has you back, and be conscious of their movements so you don't get in each other's way."<p>

"You don't expect us to actually win, do you?" Jinx asked as Batman and Robin began circling the two girls. "Hand-to-hand combat isn't exactly a strength for either of us."

"The goal isn't for us to attack, but defend." Raven muttered, watching Robin carefully. "And wait for an opening to appear."

Robin nodded at her with a small smile, before he lunged forward. She blocked the punch aimed for her chin, and only just managed to side step his high kick.

Batman had moved forward about the same time as Robin, forcing Jinx to move to the side in order to dodge his quick succession of punches. Without warning he aimed a kick for Raven's back, and Jinx tackled him, pushing his leg with the palm of her hands, forcing him to regain his balance.

"Not exactly a fighting technique, but good. It's easy when there are just two to watch, isn't it?" The Dark Knight smiled slightly. "Cyborg, focus on Jinx. The moment you two forget to watch your surroundings is the moment your partner is down. If it was the Joker, you can guarantee it's the moment they die."

Raven's eyes narrowed in focus. While Robin had run them through similar exercises time after time, she knew Batman's test would be much harder. Especially since she wasn't allowed to use her abilities.

Cyborg jogged over and moved to stand opposite the meta human, a smile on his face. Batman stepped back a few paces before nodding. "Go."

Robin instantly jumped into action, sending a flurry of kicks and punches at Raven, which she barely managed to dodge. She could hear Jinx fighting behind her, and could sense Batman's emotions as he circled around them.

She frowned as Robin's fist grazed past her shoulder, and knocked his arm to the side, stepping out of the way of a low kick aimed for her ankle, getting in a kick of her own.

Recovering quickly, Robin feigned a punch before sending a kick towards her stomach. Her eyes widened as Batman suddenly appeared beside her. She grabbed Robin's boot before it reached her and twisted, sending him sprawling, before grabbing the arm that had been heading towards Jinx, using it for leverage as she twisted her body, using all her weight and Batman's momentum to pull the man over the left side of her back, bending quickly at the waist and pulling his arm down with her to roll him over her shoulder, and dump him on the floor at her feet.

"Good." He nodded, standing up. "However if there had been more of us, the throw would have made you too vulnerable. If possible, always aim to block or distract. Cyborg, Robin, swap places. Let's see how well Jinx fairs."

Raven easily avoided Cyborg's advances. It was a welcome break after Robin's attacks. She could feel Batman circling them again, and was able to watch him out the corner of her eyes without making herself vulnerable to Cyborg. She could feel Jinx's stress, too.

"Jinx, you need to calm down." Raven muttered softly. "Strong emotions won't help your focus. You can do this."

She could feel Batman's fist as it rushed towards the back of her head and fought not to dodge it, cringing. It changed course at the last possible moment, skimming the side of her hair, but not touching her. The empath let out the breath she didn't remember holding and turned around, seeing that Jinx had only just managed to knock Batman's arm off course, Robin still standing ready to take her down.

"Close. Perhaps a little too close." He told her as Robin stepped back.

"You did better than I was expecting." Robin offered unexpectedly. "Remember Raven's done all this before."

The meta human frowned. "Yeah well, I don't fight like this if I can help it. This is pointless. We need to know if we can fight side by side with our abilities, not with our fists."

"Patience. Robin, what position does Raven usually play on the field?" Batman asked.

"Defence."

"And you, Jinx?"

She shrugged. "Both, I guess."

"Robin, I, Starfire and Cyborg shall play as the enemy. We'll be using ranged means of attack only, apart from Robin and I. You two have to work together to stay unarmed. Got it?"

* * *

><p>Raven waved her hand towards one of her bookshelves as she entered her room, using her telekinesis to grab a book, which she promptly sat on the end of her bed with, folding her legs underneath her. She ignored the meta human that followed her into the room.<p>

"I think that went quite well, over all." She declared with a smile, stretching down to reach her toes, wincing as something in her back popped. She looked up. "Raven?"

"Sure."

"What?" Jinx frowned, walking over to the bed.

"I never said anything."

"Enlighten me, Rae. Why are you fine with your team mates beating me up, but the moment someone else is involved you get all… like this?" She gestured generally in the empath's direction.

"Because my team mates don't go into a fight with the aim of killing their opponents."

"What? You think I've never faced down a gun before? I'll be fine, Raven, especially with you watching my back." She pulled the book Raven was holding out of the girl's hands and threw it onto the bed before sitting on her lap. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

Jinx sighed, standing up. She grabbed Raven's hands and pulled her off the bed, before heading towards the empath's bathroom.

"What are you doing?" Raven frowned.

"_We're_ going to have a shower." Jinx answered, laughing when the frown remained on her girlfriend's face. "What, haven't you heard of conserving water?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Okay, for starters, some of you might realise I capitalised 'He' and 'Him' when Raven was referring to Trigon. The reason for that is easy, and it comes from both the comics and the animation. The comics, because especially in the earlier ones, I noticed they often were capitalised in her speech bubbles. She doesn't worship him, but she still recognises him as a powerful force and apart from Azar, she hasn't exactly been raised with an Idol to look towards for guidance. **

**Also, Batman. Now about 99% of my Batman comics are the old ones. The ones where Batman still made the odd mistake; where sometimes he still appeared as though he could be human. The side of Batman that isn't what the modern comics often portray. The rest are old Batman and Robin comics. And well… Batman's portrayal in those are rather amusing, you have to admit. So, if he seems out of character, maybe he is, or, maybe you're just trying to compare him with the newer stuff. **

**I'm using a few characters I'm not used to writing, so my apologies if they don't turn out right. **

**Not only is it hard to write characters I've never used before, it's also hard to write fight scenes. Especially the throws. I thought it would help, seeing as I've been trained in a few different styles of fighting myself, but it really doesn't. You know how to do it, but how to explain it? Your Sensei doesn't explain it to you word for word, he shows you (at least mine did) so sorry about that too. It probably doesn't depict what it looks like very well. **

**This is the longest chapter I've written yet! After a day of writers block, half a day of research (comics, video games, films… you get the idea) the idea hit me at about 11pm. I stayed up till maybe 2am writing, and then spent another day writing just to get it done. Hope you guys liked it! **

**Anyway thanks for reading. Please drop a review :) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: ****Dudes, I do not own this stuff… just the story line. But not the characters. **

**Reviews!**

**Migrating-Coconuts: **Golly gee wiz! Updates! Horray!

_Yes, as of late my… updating speed has been VERY unstable. My apologies, but I do plan to finish this – my only distraction left is college. _

**Angelic Toaster: **Wow-you worked really hard on this (going off of the author's note)! Thanks for getting this up so fast, it's really good! I think that the fight scene was fairly well depicted considering how hard they are to write. Can't wait for more!

_Ahah I'm trying. I need the distraction, and I feel really guilty for the past few episodes of pulling started stories down. Glad you liked it :)_

**UnderMyWing: **The argument between Bats and Robin was a little disappointing, I was hoping  
>for a more aggressive argument but other than that it was superb. I can't wait for the rest of the story.<br>And as you said, fight scenes are hard to depict in writing because the motions are not something that can be described, they have to be shown to be seen correctly, but you did a really good job at the fight scene.

_Noted. Batman needs to be more… stubborn xD I'll see if I can sort that out for you :) Ahah thanks. That's good to know!_

**LilithRyoka: **Mmh, I like the pacing you're showing us, here, Mistress. Fast updates are very sweet for my mind. A most welcomed treat.  
>First of all, blablabla, grammar. I'm sure we've all read this before.<br>So, the quality of your first chapter hasn't quite followed through the next four updates, but they're still good. Sure, there are misspellings here and there, and some things don't make as much sense as they probably should, but it's still easy to guess where you were going with this. For example, in this very chapter, at the end of the third break, this is what you wrote:  
>"Robin, I, Starfire and Cyborg shall play as the enemy. We'll be using ranged means of attack only, apart from Robin and I. You two have to work together to stay unarmed. Got it?"<br>At the end, it got a bit confusing whether you meant 'unharmed', as in out of harm, completely safe, unscathed, OR really unarmed, as in not using their powers. Which seemed a bit strange, since it was in this part that the powerswere allowed. So I'm guessing 'unharmed', yeah?  
>Apart from this, throughout the four chapters, mostly minor misspellings.<br>Aaah, Batman. I remember the last time we discussed this, way, way back. This time, though, it was easier to visualize your Dark Knight. He had that oppressive, ominous feeling going on about him. Of course, there were a few problems.  
>In combat, Batman can absolutely be a killer. He's incredibly powerful, and can easily break one's bones just with his strength, not to mention his extensive knowledge of human anatomy can and does provide him with a lot of advantages when fighting someone. Sure, he would hold back most of his strength in order to properly train the girls, and not cripple them-unless we're talking about Raven, I doubt he would be able to cripple her even if that was his intention-but it really felt like a fairly normal training session. Just another figure to the team, that's all.<br>And you mentioned him being more 'human' in the older comics, yes? Well, I can't tell for sure, since I haven't read those, and while I haven't read most of the newer comics, I've read some, so I can say for experience that he is quite human. He has flows, and they show in almost every issue. Sometimes it might be something he overlooked. Sometimes it might be an unexpected foe.  
>Strategy gone wrong. Hell, his own broken morals. But he is human, and it shows. Sure, he a super-hero, incredibly intelligent, a master strategist and a remarkable martial artist, not to mention expert in several, and girl do I mean several, areas of research, investigation, criminal psychology and -whew-the list goes on. What I mean is, when you have someone with so many things to work on a story, it's easy to feel like they're beyond human. Batman isn't, and he's proud of that. The Dark Knight is the standard for heroes without powers. He is all they strive to be, 'cause he is so successful at what he does.<br>Of course, he's also incredibly dangerous, and would have protected Gotham better by improving the city instead of roaming its roads dressed as a friggin' bat, but that's neither here nor there.  
>I particularly enjoyed how possessive Raven acted towards Jinx, and how protective she was-is-of her. Really, it seems just so real. And after researching daemons and having very instructive discussion with colleagues, it really seems like that's a trait of the daemonic beings. Raven might be part-human, but she is also part-daemon(Not really, but somewhat close?), and<br>thus, shows evidence of her heritage.  
>Jinx is, as always, quite good. You've managed to capture her spirit quite well throughout your stories. Her reaction towards supposedly being put awayfrom the fights was just superb.<br>I am really anxious for your next updates, Mistress. See you at the next three chapters, give or take a few.  
>Bye!<p>

_Gah! As much as I love your reviews… they are long. Anyways, down to business! First off; glad you like the update speed. I do to. My coursework not so much :') Ah well. Hopefully I can keep it up. If not, I apologise. I even proof read that chapter damn it! Ah well. Yeah, I meant unharmed haha. Well I'm glad my Batman has improved. Ahah it depends on what your definition of 'new' is. My definition of the 'new' batman comics are the ones from the 1980s, 1990s. Heh. I haven't read any of the most recent stuff. But yeah, you're right. Against most of his enemies he's, well…yeah. He has his human moment… but they tend to be in front of Alfred, mostly. I could be totally wrong, so don't quote me on that! The majority of my Comic book collection is TT stuff. And as for the training scene…. Okay, noted. And to be honest I agree. It wasn't what I had in mind, and I don't really like it but hey ho. More practice should help with that, no? _

_I'm very happy you like the Rae/Jinx thing with the overprotective Rae. For me, as soon as anyone mention's the word 'Demon' in any of its variant spellings, I instantly think 'possessive.' It would need to be, in order to keep that which it conquered, no? Heh. Poor Jinx. And as for Jinx's attitude… I am very bad at putting LOADS of focus into the two girls personalities and somewhat skipping over the other guys. Oops. But I swear, they are the most two interesting characters out of the Titan's world. Okay, maybe Brother Blood is in there too. And Slade. Trigon. You get the idea. So it is gratifying to hear my portrayal of Jinx is liked. _

_See you soon! _

**Random Peep: **I know what you mean about the fight scenes, there pretty hard to get down  
>right. Especially when you can picture it in your head perfectly but writing it doesn't seem to do it justice lol. Anyways awesome job, loved it! Can't wait to see what happens! =P<p>

_I swear it is the most frustrating thing EVER! Glad you enjoyed it! _

**Havelock Vetinari: **More typos, better flow.  
>All in all, it averages out.<p>

_I actually tried to proof read this too. At one in the morning… but still! I'm telling you now, I found LOADS of spelling mistakes. I swear, I'm getting worse. Glad to hear the flow's improving though! _

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **Conserving water my ass. XD

_Haha! You made my day. You really did, finding this 'review' in my inbox. Yes, I did almost kill myself laughing. Yes, I started laughing again every time I thought about it. You see, those are the exact words that came to my mind when I was writing that bit. Ahah! _

**Concolor44: **I dunno. Seems like a "teensy-weensy" bit of training might be worse than none. There won't be any muscle memory involved, and they might be encouraged to try some move they aren't ready for. On the other hand, the whole "watch each other's back" thing sounds really good.  
>And again I ask, Why has no one shot the Joker to date? He's just a human, and he doesn't regenerate.<br>I liked your depiction of the Bat. Also, Jinx's reaction to him.  
>Chuckle-worthy.<p>

_Hmm. Maybe. I'm sure Robin would have at some point tried to force the team through the same training he got. And I don't know about you, but I always learn best under pressured circumstances. Individual difference I suppose. I could see it perhaps hindering Jinx. _

_Ahah I have NO idea. He just has that much influence. And I don't know about you, but I kinda like him xD_

_Glad you liked Bats. And found it amusing xD_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, the review bit…. Kinda long I know. Blame LilithR xD A huge thanks to everyone that did review. You guys are so helpful (and amusing). Where would I be without out? :P**

* * *

><p>Jinx moved in almost silence as she made her way through the corridors towards the common room. She didn't expect anyway else to be wandering about the tower this late, but checked to make sure her robe was securely tied anyway, just in case. She heard the voices just before she reached the common room door and pulled back, leaning against the wall to avoid setting off the door's motion sensors.<p>

Her first thought was that if it was Robin, and he saw her, she would get both her and Raven in trouble. He hadn't been joking when he'd said he wanted the Hive Five under constant surveillance. She knew she'd be in even more trouble if it was Batman. She strained to pick out the voices, frowning as she realised she was listening to an argument.

"Not only are you risking the safety of your own team, you're endangering the whole Bat family."

"Do you really think I would any of that on these systems?"

"You're keeping villains here – I don't know what else you'd do."

"It's not like I want them here! Raven's right, whether I like it or not. If I'd sent them straight to the Jail, the Joker would have slaughtered them. I couldn't just leave them knowing that. They're petty criminals. And even if deserved that fate, I would just stand by and let it happen. That's not how we do things."

"You trust Raven's word? Is her word really any better than any other criminal's? You know what she is Robin."

"Yes, I do. She's our friend and a valuable team mate."

"She can't be trusted. She's a bomb just waiting to explode!"

"The only reason any of us are still here is because of her."

"She can't keep fighting her heritage forever. She may be one of the heroes now, but what happens when the demon takes over? She will have enough information to easily destroy you and your team. She's already dating a villain."

"I can't believe this! You say that as though you've never had a fling with the enemy."

"I'm not the spawn of Trigon."

"This is my team, and I'll lead it however I feel fit. By all means, you can show your displeasure about the Hive being here; you're not the only one who doesn't like it, but leave Raven out of this. In all the time she's been here, she hasn't done one thing to make me question trusting her."

"It will be the end of your team. I know what happened with that Terra girl."

"Being able to trust someone isn't a crime."

Jinx quickly backed up as she heard footsteps approaching the door. She knew she wasn't going to make it out of there in time, so attempted to look as though she'd only just stepped around the corner. Robin walked quickly through the door, almost instantly seeing Jinx's pink hair. His glare was automatic, although it softened moment later into a frown.

"Where's Raven?"

"Sleeping. I know, you want us under constant watch, but I'm _not_ waking her up just so I can get a drink."

His eyes narrowed. "Convenient, isn't it, that the kitchen is in the same room as the Titan database?"

"Seriously, I'm not up to anything villainous. Raven doesn't snoop when she's at the Hive base. The least I can do is repay the favour."

Robin stared at her a moment longer before giving up. "Go back to Raven's room. Batman's in the common room. Now is not a good time to be seen wandering without a titan with you."

"I know. I could hear you guys shouting." Jinx shrugged. "Nice way of taking a stand." He glared at her, and she raised her hands defensively. "Yeah, I know. None of my business. You know, I'm not the bad guy at the moment. All that crap earlier about me and Rae needing to be able to trust each other during a fight… we never needed to worry about that, despite whatever notions you guys might have about the two of us. You're the one that need to learn to trust me. We will be fighting together after all. I'm not going to say that's going to be easy after all these years of you kicking our butts, but I heard you say you trust Rae. So why not trust her judgement on this too?"

She started to walk away, only pausing to hear his reply. "Because as soon as the Joker is gone from the city, you'll be the villain again."

"I'm not asking for a long term commitment here, Robbie." Jinx retorted without glancing back.

* * *

><p>"Jinx?"<p>

The meta human dragged her attention of the video game Cyborg and Beast Boy were playing to look at Robin. "You called?"

He motioned for her to join him by the consol he was sat at, before pointing at the digital map of Jump City. "You wouldn't happen to know of any locations the Joker could be stationed at, do you?"

"Depends what you're looking for? Somewhere isolated? Underground, maybe? Or how about something with character? A suburban dream home? A view of the bay?" She smirked at the idea of the Joker and his psychotic girlfriend playing happy families.

"Jinx." His tone reminded her of Raven, and she sighed heavily.

"Seriously, how have yours and Raven's heads not imploded from all the pressure you seem to keep up there? You need to lighten up a bit."

"Perhaps somewhere sheltered where he can go unnoticed. He's probably keeping his thugs close so it would have to be fairly big too."

"Urm…" She leaned round to look at Gizmo from his place on the sofa. "Giz, abandoned places. Any idea?"

"Control Freak keeps going on about this building. It's up for demolition with that whole block. Old theatre or something. Why would I know?"

She shrugged, turning back to Robin. "There's that. Slade's old hide out, though I hear it's falling to pieces. Chang hasn't been seen at the observatory for god knows how long… I'll get in touch with X. He knows the city and the talk. He'll have something."

"I am not involving any more villains." Robin shook his head.

"Which is why I'll be the one contacting him. I won't even mention you guys. Don't worry; you can keep your pretty little hands clean."

"And if he can't come up with anything?"

She shrugged. "You're the detective." She paused, eyes narrowing. "Clowns like theme parks right? What about that abandoned one on the east side? And let's not forget all those empty buildings where all that stuff went down with Rae's daddy."

"I can imagine him finishing everything somewhere like that, however we want to find him before then if we can. We don't want to be fighting on his terms."

"I'll get in touch with Red X." She turned, letting out a yelp as she almost walked straight into Raven, who had appeared behind her. "I hate it when you do that."

The empath ignored her. "Robin, have you seen the news?"

"Not yet, why?"

She shoved a rolled up newspaper in her leader's face. "Apparently it's all over the front pages. You might want to get in touch with the Commissioner. It wouldn't surprise me if the Joker's involved."

He rolled it out, quickly reading the headline. "Dozens killed in gas leak." His frown deepened as he scanned the columns. "So, there was no explosion, yet a leak managed to poison several families?"

"It doesn't add up." Raven nodded. "Knowing the media, some reporter probably just heard about casualties and something to do with gas, before throwing this story together. I checked the police records. If there's a coroner's report, the cops are yet to get it."

He nodded, placing the paper in the table and unclipping his communicator from his belt. "Raven, go and find Batman. Telling him we might have a lead. He was in the evidence room last time I saw him. Jinx, talk to Red X. Anything he knows on the Joker is going to help us at this point."

* * *

><p>Raven, Cyborg and Beast Boy kept back out of the way as they waited for some Officer Starkhaste to lead Robin and Batman around the crime scene. Starfire had offered to watch the Hive Five members back at the tower, knowing she would really be of any help there.<p>

The two caped heroes exited the third house on that street, and moved towards them. Robin handed Cyborg a small vial of an orange liquid.

"Remains of whatever created that gas." Robin informed him. "Take it back to the tower and analyse it. Batman and I will continue searching the other homes for anything that might help us." He looked at Beast Boy and Raven. "You two head back too. I'll call if we need anything."

"You sure?" Raven asked, and he nodded.

"See if Jinx managed to find out anything from any of her sources." He could feel Batman's gaze burning two holes into the back of his head, but ignored it.

* * *

><p>It's made from a natural toxin. Plant toxin." Cyborg informed them. "I tested it on blood samples from all the titans that were in the tower. It killed all the cells in my sample, and in Beast Boy's, though it took slightly longer. It remained un-reactive with the blood samples from Starfire and Raven. The joker obviously forgot to take into account that not all of our team is human. Of course, unless that's just part of his plan. I'm trying to find an antidote or vaccination now."<p>

"Good. It looks like we're going to need it. The Joker left his calling card in one of the homes." Robin shook his head. "We're still trying to figure out exactly what this gained him."

"Get Batman in here to check the structure of the toxin. He could be testing something new."

He nodded. "I'll send him in. Raven, did Jinx get anything?"

"A few possible locations that might be worth checking; two more than others. Two large deliveries have been seen arriving at two of the locations, according to X. He didn't know what was in them. She's gotten a few rumours from Jump's underground too. Some news about the thugs he's using. The reason it's been so quite is because the resident villains don't want to clash with him. Apparently they're just about as unhappy about his appearance as we are, but obviously they're not going to try anything."

"Finally, we might actually be getting somewhere." Robin muttered. "Cyborg, run a sample on Jinx's blood. We need to know who needs the antidote to that toxin out of those fighting."

"Send her my way once she's told you about these locations."

"Raven, come with me. We're going to run a quick recon once Jinx's shown us where these places are."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: A quick throw together of a few scenes. Not particularly fond of this chapter, but it was needed. I was arguing with myself about making this story longer, until my Muse found inspiration for the third instalment. Therefore it's going to be was it originally was meant to be – a short act. Hah! Imagine the Joker's un-amusement to being referred to as a short act! From what my Muse is giving me, the third instalment is looking to be longer than this. Perhaps not quite as long as Friday 13****th**** though.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading, as always. **


	7. Chapter 7

**I haven't raised it to a ****M**** rating, however if you think it needs to be ****let me know****. **

I mean, I never had a problem with reading adult horror books and watching 18 rated movies when I was ten, but I'm not everyone. On a side note, I just found out I'm allergic to something in Pot Noodle. Having your throat swell is NOT fun.

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews! <strong>

**Havelock Vetinari: **The cutoff was a bit abrupt, but the characterization worked, in general. I can see you're working harder on Batman. Your grammer & spelling was excellent this time, but instead of mispelling words, you simply missed entire words.  
>Happily, the context was structured enough to extrapolate which word you were intending to use.<p>

_Ahah, I'm doing it just for you =p Well, I'm not. Honest. Funny that, I get rid of one thing and something else comes along. Just my luck. _

**Shadow: **Much better job on Bats character this chapter, and having The Joker use gas was a perfect way of getting the team's attention.  
>Can't wait till the next chapter is released.<br>Your loyal reader,  
>SHADOW<p>

_I'm glad you thought so. The gas idea was the one bit I did like in that chapter. Glad you like Bats too! _

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **I didn't find anything "alluring" about this chapter aside from the argument. I can understand Bat,not saying he's right but he did get lied to, betrayed and stabbed in the back many times so...

_Yeah, neither did I to be honest. It sucked royal toe. _

* * *

><p>Robin stopped the R-Cycle a block away from the first location. Not too far from the docks, the area was made up from old factories and warehouses from the city's industrial revolution. While most of the buildings had been left to rot, a few were still in use, think grey smoke bellowing angrily out of crumbling chimneys.<p>

"We'll travel by rooftop." Robin informed the empath. "If there are any guards stationed, we'll be more likely to see them before they see us."

Raven nodded, levitating slightly before glancing at Robin. "Do you want a lift up?"

The buildings rose high around them, and Raven wasn't sure if Robin's grappling hook would reach.

He glanced up himself, before nodding. "If it's not too much trouble."

The demon halfling created a disk out of the dark energy that made up her soul self underneath her leader's feet. Raising it up level with herself, she started to move up towards the roof of the warehouse beside them.

"You asked for Jinx's opinion." Raven stated after a moment of internal debating. "Why?"

"We weren't getting anywhere, and we needed information. I remembered the information you had gathered from an anonymous source months back, when we thought we had a serial killer on our hands. I figured that source must have been Jinx." Robin shrugged. "Since this time her life's also in danger, I didn't think she'd mind sharing."

"Decisions are never that simple with you." Raven smiled slightly.

"I'm… trying out that advice you gave me. You're usually right."

"And? Is it working?"

Robin nodded and jumped off the disk, landing on the building's flat roof. "Jinx also spoke to me." He watched Raven's eyes widen in surprise, still smiling. "I'm also trying out a… temporary truce with her. Until the Joker' s back behind bars, where he belongs."

"Oh?"

Robin didn't elaborate as he started forward, crouched slightly in case their building had any windows that looked out over the rooftops. Raven fell into place beside him, gliding silently over the cracked, tar coated roof. With her hood up she was almost invisible against the quickly darkening sky.

He broke into a run, clearing the gap to the next building, staying low. "Can you sense anyone?" He asked quietly, glancing around the surrounding buildings, checking every window.

"No. It's as dead as a graveyard." She shook her head, smiling at her own analogy.

"Nothing at all?"

"Just you and a few rats."

Robin nodded, moving forward. "We'll carry out a quick sweep of the building just in case they've been here."

"And if they haven't?"

"We check the other location X said those shipments had been delivered too.

Raven nodded and they moved forward, the empath using her abilities to teleport them both onto the top floor of the location.

"Stick together. We don't know what could have been left behind. Let me know if you sense anyone."

The top floor was just a large, open space with rotting floorboards and a thick layer of dust. They moved to the floor below, Raven teleporting them again instead of using the stairs. There was no way of telling if the rusted metal would support their weight.

Raven wrinkled her nose in disgust as the smell of decay and mould hit her. She glanced around the floor, it's layout exactly the same as the one above. Only this one had a large pile of rags crumpled up in one corner.

"These floors must have been for storage." Robin muttered. "Next floor."

"Hang on." She slowly made her way towards the stained and dirty pile, moving a few scraps aside with her telekinesis, cringing at what lay underneath.

Robin appeared next to her. "He must have been homeless." His tone was matter of fact, but Raven could feel something similar to sadness radiating from him. "I saw things like this all too often in Gotham."

Raven stared at it a moment longer. The body had obviously been here for a fair amount of time. The skin had turned a soft grey with decay, and had thinned out, giving it the appearance of being stretched too far over the man's face. His hands were frail and brittle looking, resting on top of a stained blanket. Something, probably a rat, had chewed at one of the hands. She covered him up again.

"I don't feel right leaving him here." She muttered.

"We'll call the authorities after we've searched the rest of the building. Even if they can't find any family, he'll be cremated."

Raven nodded, stepping back and taking them down to the next floor. They found themselves in a small box of a room, and stepped out into a larger corridor.

"Offices?" Raven guessed.

"Maybe. Search each room for anything. I'll start at the other end and we'll need in the middle."

Each room was identical. Off white walls stained yellow with the damp, dusty floors, and each one empty.

"I don't think we're going to find anything else." Raven muttered, her eyes flickering up to the ceiling, making Robin smile slightly.

Demon halfling or not, Raven was still one of the most caring people he knew. Every human life was meaningful to her, super villain or not, even though if her often cold exterior said otherwise. He understood why she left like that too, after all she had been taught as a child.

"Two more floors. Then we'll call the cops. If they were here, they might not have come this far up the building. They would have been forced to use the stairs."

"Good point." She nodded.

The two remaining floors were also void of anything but dust, although one had held an assortment of rusted tools from whatever trade the building had once housed. They waited for the police outside what would have been the main entrance.

A single police car pulled up with someone from Jump City's morgue following in a non-descript black van.

"Robin." One of the officers shook his gloved hand, before nodding politely at Raven while his partner entered the building.

"Fourth floor." Robin told him. "He must have been homeless."

Raven watched as guy from the morgue opened the back of the van, extending two ramps before wheeling down a gurney, the white body bag already spread out across its surface.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" The officer frowned. "Nothing but empty building."

"Looking for a high profile villain. The building was one of several possible locations he could have been hiding in."

"He? You mean the Joker, don't you? Everyone in the department's talking about him. And Batman."

The second cop walked back out of the building, shaking his head. "There's no way we can use those stairs."

"I can take you up." Raven spoke.

* * *

><p>Robin had his binoculars out and focused at one of the windows. "There's definitely movement." He told Raven before zooming in. "I'm not sure if it's the Joker's men though."<p>

"Want me to take a closer look?" The empath asked.

He watched her a moment, before nodding. "Be careful."

She levitated off the roof, folding her legs underneath her so she was sat in the lotus position. Closing her eyes, she muttered her mantra, focusing on her soul self. She raised out of her body, formed from nothing but dark energy, and moved quickly towards the building, her black form unnoticeable in the dark, not even Robin being able to tell where she had gone.

She easily passed through the red brick, and hung in the top corner of a large room full of boxes. Two, muscular men were sat on the floor playing some type of card game, clown masks set on the floor next to them. Phasing back through the wall, Raven didn't bother checking the rest of the building. She could sense at least twenty people in there.

She moved back towards her body, settling back in before turning to speak to Robin. "His henchmen are definitely in there, but I couldn't feel the Joker nearby."

The boy wonder frowned. We'll attack here tomorrow anyway. Hopefully the Joker's just out at the moment. Even if he isn't, getting rid of his thugs will remove any advantage he might have. Lets head back to the tower and tell the others.

* * *

><p>"He'll be there." Batman nodded, after listening to Robin's report. "As will Harley. Although I'd rather set off after them now, than wait." The other titans frowned slightly, upon hearing the hero phrase it more like a suggestion than an order as they were expecting. Raven glanced at Robin with a small smile, realising he'd done more than just adjusting his stance with Jinx.<p>

"We need the vaccinations." Robin pointed out. "We don't know what he's got stored in there."

"Kinda hate to be the one to point this out, but you need to figure out what you're doing with these guys." Jinx pointed at Mammoth and Gizmo. "I know you don't want them in the tower on their own."

"Who's side are you on?" Gizmo whined.

She ignored him, as did Robin, who nodded in consideration. "Raven can drop them at the Penitentiary before joining us outside the building the Joker's holed up in."

"Dude! Jinx, you can't let them do this!"

"Sorry Giz, but the Joker's top priority at the moment. You don't want to fight so… Look on the bright side, I'll be joining you soon after no doubt."

"Of course we're not fighting! If we can't beat these snot-munchers, we're not going to beat the clown-faced lunatic!"

"Then deal with it." She snapped.

"How long until the antidote's done?" Robin asked Cyborg.

"Maybe two hours?"

He nodded, glancing at Batman. "I want the plans of the building, Cyborg. I have a plan.

* * *

><p>They stopped at the back door, and Robin motioned for Cyborg to turn off his shoulder light. He wanted to attract their attention, just not all at once.<p>

"He in there?" He asked Raven quietly.

She closed her eyes, dropping some of her barriers that dulled the effect of her empathy, quickly forcing them back up as she felt the first cold brush of insanity touch her.

She looked at Robin, and nodded, gently squeezing the bridge of her nose as though she had a headache. "He's there."

"You did that last time too, at the bank." Jinx muttered, nodding towards the girl's hand.

"His… his chaotic mind throws off my balance." She replied, gaining an alarmed look from Robin, which she quickly waved aside. "It's fine. I can deal with it."

"Raven…"

"It's fine." She repeated in a harsher tone, leaving no room for an argument.

He nodded unhappily. "Get us in there Jinx."

The meta human threw her hand towards the door handle, and the lock fizzed with pink lightning before audibly clicking. Robin motioned for the team to flatten themselves against the building's wall. He crouched low, putting his body out of the way in case anyone in there tried to shoot as the door opened, a bird-a-rang ready in one hand, the other gripping the door handle. He pushed the door open, flattening it against the wall. The room was empty but for an old TV that sat atop of a rusting barstool, the stuffing leaking out of one side. After giving the room another look, he waved the team in, closing the door behind them.

"Keep close and don't…"

He fell silent as the lights when off with as the door clicked shut, Starfire letting out a small squeal which she instantly apologies for. They could hear the hum of electricity as the TV started to light up, casting shadows through the dark room.

They boy wonder slowly spun round to face it with a sinking feeling. He was starting to feel very, very trapped.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**Just to get out an apology for that previous chapter. I had loads of little bits I wanted to fit in and I didn't quite know how I was going to do it. I was also having trouble trying to find the time to write it. I'm trying to split my time between college work and this. It didn't help that I had a driving lesson and a counselling session yesterday. It was a lot to do. **

**The good news? I've been discharged! Yay! No more people trying to get me to tell them everything about every corner of my mind. For now, at least anyway. I give it two, maybe three months until my next breakdown. **

**Anyway, hope this chapter made up for the previous crappyness. Let me know :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**** I don't own Batman, the Joker, Harley, or any of the Teen titans. In fact, I don't own anything DC. (you know, apart from merchandise and comics and brought stuff)**

* * *

><p><strong>Reviews!<strong>

**Havelock Vetinari: **Well, well! This... is a good cliffhanger.  
>I noted 1 single mistake, and that was adding an extra word where there shouldn't have been one.<br>Consistent.  
>Though... nah, it wasn't an actual problem, and I'm certain I'll find out next chapter.<p>

_Ahah so it worked? Good. I hate writing cliffhangers. Oooh! Yay! Go me! xD _

_And what? You can't do that to me! What will you find out? What were you unsure about! You're not supposed to be the one giving out cliffhangers! _

**Angelic Toaster: **This chappy was WAYY better than the last: I can't wait for more!

_Good! I was hoping to would be! _

**Random Peep: **Hmm for once being busy got me spoiled. I got to read 2 chapters! Muah. hah. haaa. Lol anyways awesome job! Can't wait to see what happens! xP

_Ahah lucky you! Glad you liked it :)_

**Concolor44: **Dang. Cliffhanger, much?  
>Of COURSE the Joker was expecting them. And of COURSE it's a trap. Duh! As many times as Bats has crossed swords with him?<br>Maybe Jinx can hex them back out before all Hell breaks loose. Or Raven could teleport them. Maybe.

_Just a little one :)_

_And turn back? Oh I don't think the Joker would be happy if they did that. _

**Umbra8191: **great chapter i can't wait for the next update.

_Why, thank you :)_

**Shadow: **Excellent work as always, and I nice cliff-hanger to end it. Just one question about this chapter, towards the end the Titans are about to storm The Joker's hide out if I interpreted correctly, my question is where is Bats during all of this. He is not mentioned at all during the final portion that pertains to the actual raid. I figured he would be center stage for that.  
>And as always, you have me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next chapter.<p>

_Thanks :) As for Bats… Robin said he had a plan, didn't he? Don't worry about it, you'll see him soon. _

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **Mr. J does love his entrances.

_He does indeed!_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: If anyone likes listening to music while they read, may I recommend the band 'Creature Feature' for this chapter? While it's not music that'll fit most people's taste… it was what I was listening to while I was writing this, especially the track 'The Greatest Show Unearthed'. **

* * *

><p>"Robin, my boy!" The Joker's face appeared on the TV screen, his ruby lips spread into a manic smile. They could see Harley Quinn watching from the background.<p>

Beast Boy and Cyborg glanced around the room, trying to find the camera, which didn't go unnoticed. "Don't worry boys; it's by the TV. Anyway, my sources told me old Bats had come to join the party, but I'm yet to see him! Come on, Robin, old pal. Spill the beans. Where are you hiding him?"

"You need to find more reliable sources." Robin replied.

"Maybe you're right. The villainy here is APPALLING! Something must be done about it! In fact, I think I'll make it my next target! Anyhow, at least you brought everyone else along for the party! Harley was worrying you wouldn't bring your pet villain." He laughed. "The winged lunatic is going to be so sad when he realises what fun he missed out on."

"We're going to stop you."

"Why so serious, Robbie-boy? Lighten up! Relax a little! Have some fun! In fact, I'm sending some very good company your way right now. Couldn't leave you alone; I do try to be a good host, you see."

Robin could hear Cyborg readying his sonic cannon. "We will end this tonight."

The man shrugged, a disturbing gleam in his green eyes. "We'll see…"

The TV switched off, throwing them back into darkness. Cyborg turned on his shoulder light and watched as Robin smashed the screen of the TV, before finding and destroying the camera. A door set into the wall near Robin swung open, and Raven quickly raised a shield around everyone, not wanting to give the thugs a chance at shooting anyone. The reflex proved unnecessary, the worst weapon any of them carrying being a crowbar. She kept the shield up until everyone was ready, waiting for Robin's signal.

"Titans, GO!"

Raven let the shield dissolve as Robin leapt through the air, his bo-staff swinging round and connecting firmly with one of the thug's head. Several had rushed through the door, making the small room feel even smaller.

Cyborg was able to use his sonic cannon once – knocking a man into the wall – before the risk of hitting a team mate became too high. Shrugging it off, he used his strength to rip a bat from the grip of someone next to him, swinging it around in an arc, catching the back of the thug's head, knocking him unconscious.

"Two down, and… six to go." He called out.

"Three down." Jinx corrected him as she watched her opponent drop to the floor, before shoving a fist full of pink energy into a guy's back as he made his way towards Raven.

The man's body reacted as though he had been punched by someone much stronger, hitting the floor face first with a sickening crunch. The meta human rolled in over with her foot to make sure he wasn't going to get back up, smirking when she saw she'd broken his nose. "Four."

Cyborg watched as Starfire punched her opponent square in the face, before Robin tripped him up from behind. Beast Boy charged at the last three, who had all grouped together, in the form of a ram. He connected with one of them, sending him to the floor. The thug rocked forward and clutched his knees, his face red with pain. One pulled out a knife from the pocket of his jacket and threw it at the changeling. Raven blocked it with a quickly formed shield, before stepping up to the man, catching his chin with her fist. A coating of dark energy let it do more damage than the punch should have, and his head snapped back at a painful angle as he crashed into the wall behind him, tripping over the thug nursing his knees.

She walked with him and punched him again, smashing his head back into the wall with a loud _thud_, shattering his nose in a small spray of crimson, before she watched him slide down to meet the floor. The third instantly dropped the club he'd been holding, and put his hands up in surrender, his face pale with fear.

Robin handcuffed the two still awake together, before crouching in front of the uninjured one. "Where is he?"

"T-top floor. Just… don't tell him I told you, yeah? He'll kill me!"

"We'll be back for you later." Robin said before standing back up, looking at his team. "Keep your eyes open. He likes his traps." He looked at Raven pointedly. "And you need to tell me if anything changes."

The empath glared at him, but offered a jerky nod, not wanting to argue the point in front of conscious bad guys.

* * *

><p>The rest of the ground floor had turned out empty, setting Robin's paranoia to an even higher level. They made their way back to the staircase they'd pasted earlier in their search. Their leader had already put his foot on the bottom step when Beast Boy picked up the feint sound of ticking.<p>

"Bomb!" He yelled franticly, pulling Robin back by his cape, and moving his leader behind him.

The explosion collapsed the stairs in a cloud of dust, and scorched the back of the changeling's uniform. Robin shook his head as he straightened up, looking back at what was left of the stairs. "It's been way too long since I've played this game. Thanks Beast Boy."

Bone chilling laughter filled the room, crackling with static, letting them know the Joker had installed speakers somewhere. "BOOM! HAHA! You need to be more careful! What would Batman say? Looks like you're going to have to wait down there and let the fun come to you!" He paused a moment.

"I've been doing some research on your friends. Doom Patrol, S.T.A.R Labs… let's not forget the little princess."

Robin got Cyborg to display a map of the old building's first floor. He studied it for a moment, before leading them towards a back room.

"I even got info on your pet villain. Bringing down the family home! Very nice! I liked that!" He chuckled. "But you know what I didn't find? Info on your little black bird. Nothing! So kid, what's your secret? It must be something bad, for it to be so well hidden, but you can tell your Uncle J. He understands bad things. Let me guess… you killed your parents? No… that's too small scale. I got it! You destroyed your home town! Actually, I would have heard about that I'm sure. Hmmm… Perhaps…. You killed your cat?" He burst out laughing, and they did their best to ignore him.

"Raven, can you take us up to the next floor?" Robin asked, having to speak over the man's insane laughter.

She nodded, and motioned them all to step closer to her. Dark energy rose up from the floor as Raven's eyes started to glow white. It rose up to engulf them before moving to hit the ceiling. It flattened slightly, pulsating as it passed through to the next floor, giving it the appearance that the energy was a living thing.

The mass started receding back into Raven as soon as they appeared through the floor on the first floor. Robin had positioned them so they appeared in another small room not too different from the one they had entered the building through. The team started moving as soon as the last of the empath's soul self had receded, placing themselves into more defendable positions. Raven didn't move, but for a small frown that creased her brow. She realised she could feel the Joker's swirl of emotions, despite having all of her metal walls securely in place. It was only fleeting snatches, but it was there; much sooner than she'd anticipated.

"How many floors does this building have?" She asked Cyborg.

"Five." He answered, before looking at Robin. "Think we'll be able to use the stairs this time?"

The boy wonder's eyes narrowed as he shrugged. "I'm tempted to skip straight to the top floor."

"Why don't we?" Jinx asked. "You guys might be having fun, but I really don't like the idea of travelling across four floors of death traps."

"Because I'm not sure how he'd react to us ruining his game. For all we know he has something set up for just that." Robin muttered, twisting the door handle. "We also need more time." Pushing the door open, he poked his head around the frame before pulling back and closing the door shut. "He's flooding the corridor with gas."

"The same one you gave me a sample of?" Cyborg asked.

"I have no idea, and I don't want to test it either."

"We're going to die!" Beast Boy motioned dramatically. "That gas is bound to get in here somehow."

"Beast Boy's right. We can move past it up another floor, but if there's enough it'll catch up with us eventually." Raven nodded.

"Then we must move the source outside." Starfire declared. "Were it will disperse too thin to be of any harm. I shall go do this. Tamerainians are resistant to most earthly concoctions."

"And I'll go with you." Raven nodded. "I can easily move whatever the gas is coming from, if the source is on this floor. If he's channelling it through vents, we might be in trouble."

"Rae, but what if…"

"It's a risk for both of us." The empath cut Jinx short, "But we're the only two on the team yet to find a toxin that can harm us seriously." She looked at Robin, and he nodded.

"Try and keep it quick. I'd advice keeping your feet off the floor. You never know what other traps he'll have lying around."

The two girls nodded and Robin opened the door, before ushering them out into the hallway. He closed the door behind them and they shared a glance.

"Check each room." Raven told her. "Hopefully we'll just find something like a gas canister we can deactivate. Or dispose of."

"Shall we do the splitting up?"

"Yeah. Just don't let your guard down. Let me know if you find anything."

"I shall."

"You start this end."

The floor was composed of several large rooms, each cast with an orange haze from the gas that was being pumped into the air. The empath opened all the windows she came across in an attempt to clear the air.

"Raven I believe I may have found something!" Starfire called out, and she made her way over, slipping into a room with multiple wooden crates stacked up on top of each other. Raven recognised it as the room she'd been in earlier that night during the recon, only it was missing the two thugs.

"What?"

"The source could be hidden in the boxes, no?"

Raven scowled. "If we ever reach him, I am going to kill this man. Were the rest of the rooms you checked empty?"

"Yes."

"Don't use your star bolts." She sighed. "We don't know if this stuff is flammable or not. We're going to have to work manually. Call Robin on the communicator and get his opinion."


	9. Chapter 9

**Concolor44: **Hm. A half-chapter. You cut the action off right in the middle of the scene! NO fair! Got my heart rate up, expecting another explosion or shotgun trap or something, and ... nothin'.  
>But *fortunately* you are updating very quickly. I LOVE THAT!<br>(You know, if it were my team going after him, I'd just stand outside and let Starfire and Cyborg blast the first floor to smithereens, then have Raven smash flat what was left. But I'm not writing it, you are, and I can't argue with the results thus far. Carry on.)

_Ahah oops. Sorry :) And yes, I am updating quickly aren't I. Yay! _

_As for that…. Ahah! Well, you would have some structural problems then. Like do I don't know, a building collapsing on their heads. I think Rae's been hit by enough buildings this year, don't you? :p_

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **What's a good way to piss Mr.J off? Cheat or don't play his game. It's likewhat happened with Riddler except Mr.J's crazy, more crazy than Riddler I mean.

_Hmm… I mean, if you don't play his game, he's gotta come up with something else. But if you cheat, you miss out on some of the excitement! Mr J should come with an instruction manual. Only I think it would be unreadable. _

**Umbra8191:** great chapter i can't wait for the next update.

_:)_

**Shadow:** AGH, you are torturing me with the cliff-hangers. another great chapter can't wait till the next one is up. oh, and maybe throw in some taunts from The Joker about the gas, he usually has some witty remark about his use of gas attacks

_Yeah, I didn't really mean to make this one a cliff-hanger. Oops. Glad you liked it! And ahah, I'll see what I can do (I'd already written most of this chapter when I got your review!)_

**Random Peep: **Lol killed your cat... ahh the joker... I got a kick outta that, so random I wasn't expecting it. Awesome job, loved it! Can't wait to see what happens. xP

_Good! I put it in and was like…'does it work? I don't think it does. Oh hell it's staying in.'_

**Angelic Toaster: **Eeep! Epic! And beautifully written! PEASE update soon!

_Why, I'm glad you think so! _

* * *

><p>"Having trouble, girls?"<p>

"Fuck off." Raven muttered promptly upon hearing the Joker's voice, removing the lid from another crate and finding nothing but packing.

"My my, a lady should NEVER use such language! Don't worry; I'm sure we can sort that out soon. I had guessed that the alien would be immune to my more potent mixtures, and I didn't really have time to make anything for her, sadly, but you… you should be dead." The humour drained from his voice, leaving his voice cold.

"Funny, that." She moved to the next box. "How are you doing Star?"

"Not well. I have yet to find anything."

"Funny? Oh, I know funny. This… you're ruining everything." There was a moment of silence, before he spoke again, once more sounding like clown on speed. "Which is why I'm thinking up something real big and special. It would help if I knew more about you though, so come on, spill your secret. You're not human! Exactly what are you? What dark corner of hell did you crawl out of?"

The empath flinched, but otherwise ignored him, pulling another crate towards her.

"I believe to have found the device!" Starfire spoke up happily. "However I believe Cyborg would be much more suited to turn it off, than us."

Raven moved over to her, peering into the box the alien was knelt in front of. She pulled out her communicator. "Raven calling Cyborg. You're going to have to give us a step by step guide of how to turn this thing off."

Cyborg's face appeared on the little screen. She could see everyone huddled around him, trying to get a look. "Show me the thing. Oh, and Robin says to stop pissing the Joker off, or it won't end well. We could only hear his side of the conversation."

She shrugged, before turning the communicator so the small camera would pick up the canister. The bottom looked like it belonged to any other gas canister out there, but the top was obviously modified, perhaps custom order for the Joker. Instead of a simple screw valve, a large, circular clamp, currently open, made up the top. It was obvious the clamp had to be closed to stop the thing from releasing any more of the gas into the air. It was wired up to a small panel.

"What's on the panel?" Cyborg asked, and Raven carefully rolled it over so they could get a better look, momentarily freezing as they saw the moving red digits.

"How much are you willing to bet the gas that's been pumped onto this floor is flammable?" Raven muttered.

"That canister's awfully small to release that much gas." Starfire noted.

"We're not going to find them all in time!"

"So! How many bombs do you think it'll take to kill you?" The Joker cackled. "Don't worry about making a mess; what are cleaning services for? AHAH!"

"Get out of there!" Robin shouted urgently.

The two girls scrambled to their feet and made towards the door. Raven paused, half way through, shaking her head. "If those go off, the whole building could go up in flames."

"That was an order!" Robin tried to reinforce.

"Starfire, get back to the others, just in case. If I can get all of those boxes into a shield…"

"Raven, don't you dare!" Jinx's voice came through the communicator.

She ignored it, flipping it shut and clipping it back onto her belt before turning back into the room. Moving her hands so they were held out towards the crates, they slowly began to turn black as her energy rose up over them. The shield itself was an effort to maintain simply due to it's size, and her eyes began to glow a brilliant white as she poured more energy into it, preparing for the first explosion.

She saw the flames first. The usual black of the shield muted to a pumpkin orange where they pressed against the edge of the barricade. The sound hit her a second later and she could feel the dark energy shake. The gas ignited, and the flames spread rapidly throughout the block off area, momentarily turning the entire shield that dull orange. She felt almost captivated, never having seen anything like that before. The heat didn't affect the control she had, but the other explosion did, as a hidden canister caught alight, the force of the blast cracking her shield.

She poured even more energy into it, beads of sweat dripping down the side of her face as her arms begun to shake. Another canister exploded, shredding apart the remaining burning crates. The mental strain forced her back a few steps and she bumped into someone. She silently cursed, certain she couldn't fight and keep the shield up, but relaxed slightly when she recognised her friend's voice.

"I am sure you shall not need to hold it for much longer now."

"Star… I told you to-"

"I was not about to leave your back unguarded." The alien cut her short.

Raven shrugged it off and turned her focus back onto her shield. She watched the flames begin to recede, her shield turning back to its customary black.

"Is it safe to drop your shield?" Starfire asked.

"There's still flammable gas in the air." She shook her head. "Call Robin."

"And I thought Bats was a kill joy."

"Tell him to find and break all the speakers on his way over." Raven added.

"Had that gone to plan, your little princess would be… slightly burnt." The joker laughed, though he didn't sound amused. "And we would have been one titan down."

"Robin, the gas is beginning to clear and the bombs have been dealt with. I believe it may be safe for you to progress forward."

Raven began to crumple the shield in on itself, crushing the burning wood until the flames went out, before letting it disappear.

"Didn't I tell you not to worry about the mess? I'm sending a couple of boys down to help… clean up."

Robin appeared around the corner, half running, with Jinx right on his heels. "When I give an order, you follow it." He told them both.

Raven frowned. "And killed everyone?"

Cyborg stayed in the doorway, watching the corridor with Beast Boy. "Don't mean to interrupt, but shouldn't we get moving before the goons get here?"

"Yeah, what happened to not playing straight into his hands?" Beast Boy asked.

"How much time do we need?" Jinx muttered. "Surely not much more?"

The boy wonder frowned. If he timed it wrong, went to early, the plan would be ruined and they'd all be working on improvisation. Not that it was always a bad thing…

"We'll take these guys out," Robin nodded slowly, "The head straight up. That should be enough."

Cyborg and Beast Boy rushed into the room, pulling themselves out of view from the doorway. "They've got gun."

"Raven, you're our line of defence, everyone else I want those guns disposed of before anyone's shot."

"Yeah, easier said than done." Jinx muttered, moving to crouch next to the wall, out of immediate sight in case someone stormed in.

"So, how exactly are you meant to get them without being shot?" Beast Boy asked. "I mean, we can't see them without being seen."

"Raven, get me behind them." Robin ordered.

"Me too." Jinx spoke up, before adding quickly as Robin frowned at him. "I know how to sneak. I'm not just a pretty face. If there are two of us we can get disabling them a lot faster."

Robin nodded at Raven. "Get me and Jinx behind them, then get back in here. A distraction would be helpful, and I need you to make sure no one gets shot."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: About the smaller chapters… For some reason I find writing the more action pacts ones easier in shorter snippets. It also means you guys get faster updates. I currently updating about twice a day. Aint you guys lucky? :P (twice a day being once and about 1am and then at about 4pm) **


	10. Chapter 10

**Random Peep: **Lol I sense a disturbance in the joker's enjoyment of his game. Then again he's never had to fight someone like Raven. Anyways awesome job, can't wait to see what happens! =P

_Ahah! I don't think you're the only one that's noticed. Glad you liked!_

**Angelic Toaster: **Yayyy! I love how you write Raven! She's always so real and incredible in your stories! I think you're one of the few people that can really write how ALL of the characters-not just raven-truly are! And then manipulate them a little bit for your stories, but it always works out so well! Can't wait till the next update!

_Gah! You made me blush! Ahah I'm glad you think so. However you have also sent me into a spaz while writing this chapter to make sure all the characters were still themselves haha. _

**Eagle wolf05: **sorry for not reviewing the last 3 or 4 chapter I got sick and when I'm sick all I do is sleep I'm starting to love this story I can't wait for what the joker has pland for raven keep up the good work and the updates

_No worries :) and I hope you're feeling better! Glad it's growing on you!_

**UnderMyWing: **Sorry about getting my review in late, I'll try to stay on top of things as best as I can. Another great addition to the already captivating story, and I must admit I was not expecting the gas to be bomb, that was a nice touch. Joker could use a little more sarcasm in his taunts, just to make things more lively. Can't wait to see what happens in the next chapter.

_Ahah no problem. I have a lot on with college so my updates are becoming somewhat slower. Glad you liked the chapter, and that I managed to surprise you somewhat. I'll take that into consideration!_

**Umbra8191: **great chapter i can't wait for the next update.

_Glad you're enjoying it :)_

**Havelock Vetinari: **Ah, I particularly like Joker's interactions with Raven.  
>I get the feeling that Mr. J might not be focused on Jinx or the Bat Family afterall.<br>And her holding back the Joker's customary surprise explosions?  
>Nicely done.<br>A bunch of maniacs with guns vs Raven, Starfire, Jinx, & Cyborg... Hm, I wonder who has more firepower there...  
>Joker knows he can't win by now. What's he planning?<br>Oh, uh, superficial grammer & structure seemed fine, too.

_Ah, good! Hmm and maybe not…._

_It was quick thinking on Rae's part. Ahah I wonder. Somehow I don't think it's going to be Uncle J. And good! _

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **I love Mr.J's traps. :)

_Ahah! Mr J used to love them too. Until Raven came along. _

**Concolor44: **WooHOO! Nice! Raven using her abilities in a logical manner! Love it! Honestly, I think if she had some time to plan, she could take him out by herself.  
>So Joker intended for that bomb to kill them. I don't like his games. Probably not to the extent that, say, Robin doesn't like them (especially right now), but ... no. Not my thing at all.<p>

_Ahah I think she could. I mean, she has the abilitie to sneak up behind him. Bind the mad man in her telekinesis and BAM. Of course, she has the problem of her empathy to deal with. Not sure how she would react, being so close to the loony. Ahah I don't think anyone likes his killer games. But could you imagine the Joker just going for a wounding shot. Oh, sure, if he was going to say, drop you out the window later just for laughs. _

**Table for Two: **Gaaaaahhh :3 I really love this story ya know. I check my e-mail pretty constantly nowadays. Thanks for that :p haha.  
>ANYWAY.<br>So. I really like how in this chapter the Joker is just ALWAYS over their shoulder it seems. Not to mention while Raven's trying to contain an explosion that could cost them their lives, which was a bad call on Robin, but way to pick up on it Raven! n_n You write these action and suspense scenes very well. It's refreshing. And edgy. I love it! I'm looking forward to the next surprise you have in store! So let's go team! :3  
>Catch ya later,<br>Table for Two

_Is this the first time I've seen your pen-name on my review list? Anyhow I'm glad you're enjoying it! It was a bad call on Robin. Either his obsessions about certain villainy has caught up on him again or he was worried about Star. But yeah, quick thinking on Rae's part. I'm glad you think so. I'm always worried about them! _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: It took me longer to write this than I thought it would, mainly because of college work, but I also spent a lot of my time laughing at the part in the Dark Knight where the Joker drops some woman out the window after Bats says 'Let her go'. AHAH! 'Very poor choice of words' indeed! **

* * *

><p>The large, black bird rose silently out of the floor, shrinking enough to release the hero and villain before it sank back into the old, cracked tiles. Jinx nodded at Robin with a small smile and they started forward.<p>

Six men were walking towards the room the others were in, each holding what Robin identified as Mini-UZI carbines. It was a relief after seeing some of the fire power the Joker's men often carried around Gotham. They shadowed the two at the back, before covering the thugs' mouths with their left hands to silence any protests. Working in almost perfect synchrony, both teenagers broke the thugs grip on their guns with their right hands, before bringing it across into a choke hold, pressing the inside of their forearms tightly against their throats. The remaining four men remained oblivious to the fact two of their team mates have been taken out.

A green star bolt shot out of the doorway, and only just missed one of the men. The deafening sound of gunfire filled the narrow hallway, and Jinx, using the gun she had taken from the unconscious thug, stepped up to the next closest, ramming the butt of the semi-automatic into the back of the man's head. His yell of pain and surprise was covered up by the sound the guns were making and he dropped to the floor. She smashed the gun into the back of his head again, knocking him out cold.

She turned towards his partner, grinning when she saw Robin standing their instead. She moved over to him and leaned in so he could hear her over the noise of the last two gunmen, pulling the magazine out of the UZI and placing it on the floor. "I'll get Baldy."

She ghosted closer to the shaven and heavily tattooed thug before throwing a hex at the gun. The next shot he fired jammed into the barrel and the pressure blew it back out the end of the gun. His side burst crimson and he dropped to the floor, yelling in pain. Robin finished his guy with a solid swing of his bo-staff, kicking the gun out of the unconscious man's hand before turning to glare at Jinx.

"He was hip firing and I technically didn't shoot him. He shot himself. That wound won't kill him." The meta human quickly defended herself.

"Is it safe?" Cyborg asked from inside the room.

"Yeah." Robin put his bo-staff away as Jinx walked over to the bleeding thug.

"You don't want that broken thing anymore." She muttered, pulling the gun from his grip and tossing it aside. "How many more of you are upstairs? Include traps too."

He spat at her, it falling a few centimetres short of its mark. She nudged his wound with her boot, and he tried to double up as a pained gasp left his lips. "How many more of you guys has the Joker got? And how many more traps has be planned out?"

"Jinx!" Robin started to move towards the meta human, planning to push her away from the man.

"Ugh! A lot!" He gasped. "I don't know. Twenty?"

"Traps or men?"

"Men."

"And how many traps?"

"That…"

"It won't be a nudge next time." She threatened. "How many?"

"Three. Two small and one fancy one."

Jinx stepped back and looked up at Robin. "Now we have info, and your hands are still clean. Everyone wins."

He looked at Raven as though she was meant to talk some sense into the meta human, but she just stared back. He frowned at her before looking back at Jinx. "This isn't how we work!"

"How you work. Are you going to knock him out, or shall I?"

He walked past her. "Raven, get us up to the top floor. Let's finish this."

Jinx smiled slightly at the thug. "Lights out."

* * *

><p>Raven stumbled as her soul-self receded, and Jinx caught her arm. "Robin, we have a problem."<p>

The rapid changing emotions of the Joker had hit her mental shields to forcefully, catching Raven off guard, and fighting them off had grabbed most of the girl's attention.

"How long can you hold it for?" Robin asked

The empath shoved Jinx off her, and tried to straighten herself up. "I…" Her face folded into a deep set frown as she tried to think past all the white noise that was attempting to fill her mind. "Not long."

"Hopefully we won't be long." Robin muttered. He glared at Jinx before he set off down the corridor, stopping at the first door and shoving it open, giving the room a quick glance before moving on.

"I think your tough ass villain routine irritated him." Raven chuckled at Jinx, before setting off after their leader, trailing one hand along the wall for support.

"She going to be okay?" The meta human asked Cyborg.

"Sure. As soon as she gets her arse out of the building."

"Which she won't." Beast Boy added, watching Starfire rush to try and help the teenager in question. "She's way too stubborn for that."

"What's even happening?"

Cyborg started to move after Robin and the two girls. "You know Rae's an empath, right? Usually she blocks out most of what she picks up from other people, since her powers are affected by emotion. Apparently she's finding it harder to block the Joker. I don't know why. I don't even know how the whole empathy thing works. Not really."

"So what's going to happen when they're like, in the same room as each other?"

"Hopefully nothing. Hopefully she'll just have the bad balance and stuff." Cyborg shook his head. "Otherwise the answer's nothing good. Come on; we need to catch up to those three."

He sped up to a jog, readying his sonic cannon as he watched Robin swing open another door, and scan the room with his eyes.

"Save your energy." Raven spoke up. "The guy said there were twenty thugs left, and I can feel twenty two people all down the end of the hallway."

"Are you certain?" Starfire asked.

"Mhmm." She took a few more steps, before wincing as the corridor seemed to spin slightly, throwing off her balance again. "I think I have a headache."

"No surprise there." Cyborg muttered. "If they're all in the same place then… Yo, Rob! Slow down."

The boy wonder looked back. "No. We need to find him before he realises we've skipped a few floors."

"No, we need to figure out the layout of the room they're all camped in, and come up with a plan other than 'let's charge in and get shot to bits'. I'm all for simple plans, but becoming a watering can was never on my list wish."

Beast Boy chuckled at his friend's self inflicted joke.

Robin came to a stop, frowning. "Raven, which room are they in."

"I don't know. Just somewhere down the end of the hall." She shrugged. "You know I can't be any more specific that direction."

"Cyborg, get the map of the floor up." He moved back down the corridor to them. "Raven, I want you to take out some of the men first, without being noticed. That's a given no matter what we're up against. If all twenty have guns, we're not going to last long at all. And then…"

"You want to order her to go home." Cyborg interrupted him.

"I'm fine." The empath shook her head. "I'm not leaving."

"Guys… what's that smell?" Beast boy asked, instantly grabbing everyone's attention.

"What?" Jinx frowned.

"I do not smell anything." Starfire shrugged.

"You mean you're finally picking up how awful Tofu smells?" Cyborg sniggered. "Because the only thing I can smell right now is soya."

"Guys, now is not the time." Robin frowned.

"But I'm not joking! It wasn't here a minute ago!"

"You're lucky I planned for this!" Speakers switched on, letting the Joker's voice echo down the hallway. "Stick around long enough, Robbie, and you might even recognise this. Of course, that is if you don't die first. But at least you'll go with a smile on your face!"

"Joker gas!"

"Eehee! Bingo! Jack pot! You're a winner! You have two choices. You could leave the building. That'd keep you safe from my lovely cocktail, but then little old me would escape, and have time to set up something else. Your other choice would be to let your black bird teleport you straight into the room we're in. Don't worry; it's properly sealed and ventilated. Now, wouldn't that be cosy. Sure, you might be at a disadvantage, but you still get a shot at taking me out. Now, you couldn't turn that up, could you? Raven was right, by the way. If you head down the hall you'll see a white door. It's locked, padlocked and booby-trapped, so by all means, try opening it. You'd only loose a few fingers. So, what do you say? Of course! I forgot to mention the third option! Silly me! See, I wouldn't be one to argue if you just wanted to stay where you are. I'll even make sure Bats hears the news. Personally, of course. The media is just… so insensitive. It doesn't understand the individual."

Everyone turned to look at Robin.

"Your call." Cyborg said. "But make it quick."


	11. Chapter 11

**Random Peep: **Such a decision. Enter or not to enter lol. Ahh can't wait to see what happens! xP

_It is isn't it!_

**Concolor44: **Bombs. And poison gas. And high-velocity lead.  
>With friends like these, who needs super-powers?<br>Hey, how come the Titans didn't bring their own air supplies with them? They could, you know. Then Joker-gas wouldn't be an issue. And Raven's already demonstrated that she can handle bombs.  
>BTW, I just LOVED how Jinx handled Thug #6! Classic!<p>

_Ahah exactly! And I don't know. You'd think Robin would have them in stock somewhere, even if they're never used. And ahah I'm glad you liked that bit! So did I :'D_

**Umbra8191: **great chapter i can't wait for the next update.

_:)_

**Angelic Toaster: **Ohhhhhhh! Eep! Update please!

_Updated :)_

**I'm a Lover not a Hater: **The Robin in "The Batman" would tell his team to get out. The Robin in "Teen Titans" would tell his team to charge in.

_Exactly. You can just feel how torn he is, can't you :P_

**Table for Two: **It's possible, however I'm fairly sure I've reviewed another one of your stories although I think you took it down .-. either way- this was a (as expected) great chapter! I like the show of how Jinx obviously does things different from the Titans and Robin's going to have to deal with that. He just can't grasp that she's more badass than he is u_u And Joker gas! Whoa-oh!  
>Things are about to get heavy and it's gonna roooock! :D Catch ya later,<br>Table for Two

_Ahah! That's probably it then. I'm glad you liked that. I was worried people wouldn't like it. But we've got to remember she's a bad guy too. Ahah! No, he can't. Ahah I hope you enjoy this instalment then. _

* * *

><p>"Robin?" Jinx asked, glancing down the corridor. "You might want to make up your mind sooner rather than later."<p>

He looked at Raven. "You all know the risks. Take us in there Raven. It's a trap – as simple as that, but I won't have him running free around our city. We can still complete our original goal. Distraction."

On Robin's word, they all stepped up to the empath. She pulled that cold, black energy around them, and focused on the cluster of emotions coming from the end of the hallway. The dark energy sank through the floor, appearing seconds later in a large, square room. As the energy receded, the first thing Raven saw was the Joker's evil grin. She didn't have to look to know the thugs were lining the two walls either side of the door, ten on each side. They were holding the same model of gun as what the six thugs downstairs had been using.

"I didn't think you'd do it!" The Joker burst out laughing. "Oh, Robbie boy! And I didn't even have any hostages! Jump City's changed you!"

Raven tried not to show her discomfort as she looked from the mad man to the blond at his side. She was grinning at Jinx, clearly pleased with how things were turning out.

"Just ignore the boys. I'm not ready to get down to the un-pleasantries just yet. Needless to say, they'll cut you down to size if you make any suspicious moves. They'll cut you way down." He chuckled, and the empath brought her attention back to him. "Tell me then, Robin. Why send your team into such an obvious trap? What's going through your crazy little mind?"

"I don't need to tell you anything."

"I think he's finally lost it, puddin'." Harley grinned.

"He can't lose what he never had!" The Joker declared, before bursting out into laughter. Raven felt that manic joy leave him so quickly she began to doubt that it had ever been there. His gaze settled on the empath, cold till the point it was almost clinical. "But we can't let our other guests go ignored." His tone let her understand all his unspoken threats. "My girl has some unfinished business with your little cotton candy. What do you think? Want to watch them fight it out?"

"I wasn't bluffing last time we met. If anyone touches her, I'll gut all of you, even if I have to hunt you down to the other side of the earth." Raven growled.

"You're not too smart, are you kid? My boys could butcher you all before you could even blink."

"What, like the gas that was supposed to have killed me?" She asked with a slight grin.

He frowned at her a moment. "Okay. You've got me. Your girlfriend's life for information. You answer my questions, and your piece of tail get to live."

Her eyes narrowed into a glare. She looked at each of the gunmen and their smiling clown masks, before her eyes traced over the ceiling's many vents. She had to buy them time… "No questions on Titan business."

"You're asking for a lot." He growled.

"Humour me."

"Fine. No titan questions. But you have to answer all my questions otherwise."

"Ten. You're allowed no more than ten questions."

"You're in no position to ask for such… advantages."

"And you are?" The empath's smile darkened. "I could kill you before your hired help fired a single bullet. You can get a lot from ten questions if you know what to ask. Come on, take the risk."

"Raven." The leader of the teen titans whispered harshly.

She pretended to ignore him, but got the warning. The Gotham criminal was insane, not stupid. He'd figure out what questions to ask. But Raven had years of experience at answering questions without giving away more than enough information. She wouldn't give the Joker anything he could use against her or the team.

"But Puddin', you said…"

"Shut up Harley. The adults are talking." He snapped, his anger fading as quickly as it had appeared. "I'm tempted to say no, just to see if you really can kill that quickly. You're on the wrong side, kid."

"Ten questions. Then you let us send you to Arkham."

"You sure do know how to work a tough deal." He pouted for a moment, before laughing. "Oh hell, why not? It won't take me long to slip past old Sharpe again. But you have to answer every question. With more than five words. Or pink eyes won't be pretty for much longer."

Her lips tilted into a slight smile, before a low chuckle broke through her lips. "Deal. Just answer this for me first. You said you were planning something for me. Obviously this isn't it. What is it?"

"Oh, you're just going to have to wait and see." His amusement was back, a sudden rush that left the empath dazed. "You may have won this round, but I'll be back. I'm saving your surprise for my next visit, don't worry. But it's my turn to ask the questions now." He ran his hand across his chin, his lips moving silently as he ran through his thoughts. "Okay… question number one. Why exactly are you immune to my gas?"

"Because I was born with natural immunity to all poisons." She could feel Robin's tense panic, and Cyborg's amusement, the robotic teen obviously thinking Raven had the upper hand. However her mind was focused elsewhere. She wanted to know why her leader's old mentor hadn't shown up. Wanted to know why their plan had come to a standstill.

"Need to be more specific." He muttered to himself.

"Don't feel like you have to rush." Raven muttered. "We have all the time in the world."

He glared at her, before clearing his throat. "Fine. Questions two. You keeping note of this Harley?"

"Mhmm."

"I know you're not human. No meta would survive any of what you did. So _what_ are you?"

"I'm a hybrid." She shrugged. "A halfling."

"Half what?"

"Question three." Raven muttered. "Half human. My human family was from Gotham, in fact."

"You're starting to annoy me."

"What, did you think I was going to make it easy?" Her amethyst eyes flickered back to the gun men. _Sooner rather than later, Batman._ She wanted to look back at Robin, but resisted the urge.

"Well, this one shouldn't be too hard for you. You've told me you're half human. So, what's the other half?"

She cringed and tried to find a loop hole in what he'd said. "Not human, and not a creature regularly found in this dimension."

"Oh, you are pushing your luck."

"I'm playing by the rules."

The Joker pointed at one of the men stood against the wall. "Mind if I borrow your gun for a second, Bob?"

Raven wasn't sure if the masked thug's name was actually Bob, but he moved forward, and passed the mad man his weapon. The Joker skipped forward before pressing the barrel of the gun against the side of Jinx's head. Raven froze, trying to stifle the growl that rose from her throat. Even she wouldn't be able to stop the bullet if he fired.

"Question four. How much does Jinx mean to you? Take your time. After all, you'll want to be careful about how you answer this one."

Her eyes narrowed as she glared at the clown with one of her better stares, only just managing to keep Rage at bay. "She means enough to me."

"Enough? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Question five. And it means whatever you want it to mean."

"Is that a threat?" He asked, voice rising, making it sound like he'd sung the words.

"Question six. Trust me, you'd know if I'd threatened you."

He swore when he realised he was down to only four questions. "You'd make a good scammer, just saying." The frown seemed carved into his face. It looked odd against the permanent smile etched onto his cheeks. "Question seven… hmm…" He tapped the barrel of the gun against the meta human's head, like someone might tap their pencil against a desk. Raven could feel Jinx growing impatient and irritated, and was unsure if she would stay still for much longer, even with the threat of the gun. "What is the name of the type of creature that makes up the half of you that isn't human?"

She sensed all the titans freeze up; saw Jinx turn her head to look at her, shaking her head slightly in a 'no' gesture. Time up. "I can do better than tell you. I can show you, if you want."

"Raven, no! The boy wonder yelled. He rushed towards her, stopping when the Joker pointed the gun in his direction.

"Take one more step and I'll clip your wing."

With a small laugh, Raven too the opening and quickly threw up a shield to protect everyone. The Joker fired, but the bullet ricocheted back, barely missing him. Rage filled the mad man, and he turned with a roar, firing at one of the thugs in general. The man dropped, crimson spraying up the wall behind him, too bright against the white paint. He watched the body twitch, before looking back at Raven.

"You're dead." He shook his head, raising a hand to point at her with a shaking finger. He started to laugh. "I'm going to carve you up oh, so slowly. You and your pretty little girlfriend."

Raven opened her mouth to retort, but a loud _crash_ grabbed everyone's attention. One of the vent covers had dropped down off the ceiling, landing on one of the hired muscle, knocking him unconscious.

"Your arrival might have been nice ten minutes ago." Robin spoke to the black blur that dropped down from the vent.

"Bats, old pal!" It was like a switch had been flicked on. All that cold, violent energy turning into loud, chaotic noise. The killing intent was still there, but everything was a game once more; something that could be enjoyed. "We were worried you would miss the party."

Batman ignored him as he threw a bat-a-rang at one of the men. It cut into his hand, and he dropped the carbine, yelling in pain as he tried to dislodge the metal disk.

"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled without warning. Raven dropped the shield and everyone split, heading towards their nearest thug in their pairs.

"Time to practice those tactics." Raven grinned at Jinx, taking to the air before throwing a blast of energy at one of the masked thugs, knocking him to the floor.

Jinx sprinted over to him before he could get back up, and brought her boot down on his right wrist, hard. He let go of the gun, and grabbed Jinx's boot with his left hand in a blinded attempt to move it. She danced back, swinging her right foot round in an arc as he started to sit up, connecting with his head, knocking him back to the ground. She kicked the gun out of his reach, before turning to nod at Raven. The empath quickly put up a shield to protect Cyborg from the stray bullet she'd seen heading his way, before motioning towards the thug opposite them.

"I'll watch your back." Jinx smiled, frowning when Raven shook her head.

"I don't have enough control at the moment to trust myself in a fight. He's all yours."

Jinx nodded, before throwing a hex towards the man, the pink wave hitting his gun. Unaware that the walking bad luck charm had jinxed his gun, he pressed the trigger, aiming at Robin, only for his side to explode in a flash of blood, bone, and pain. He collapsed into a heap, and Jinx turned her focus off him. "This is too easy."

Raven watch Batman move to tackle the Joker, only just spotting Harley Quinn's fist before it smashed into the back of Jinx's head, making the meta human stumble forward a few steps. Raven landed on the ground and punched the blonde in the side of her face hard enough to make her stumble. The woman wiped her hand across her cheek, before smiling at Raven.

She whipped a blade out of a sheaf hidden in her boot, and threw it at the meta human. Raven quickly built a shield, before throwing a blast of obsidian energy at the woman. She cart wheeled around it. "That the best you got?"

Muttering her mantra, several of the guns from the unconscious thugs rose into the air and flew towards Harley. She dodged most of them, blocking the last with her arm. Frowning, Raven motioned at the body of the man the Joker had killed, before throwing it at the blonde with surprising speed. Harley's blue eyes widened as she caught site of the body, but was too slow moving. The dead weight barrelled into her, knocking her to the floor, the momentum causing her to skid into the wall.

Harley shoved the body off her as Raven moved forward, an unsettling smile on her face. Quickly pushing herself to her feet, the woman danced to the side, past Raven, and poked Jinx's arm with one shoulder, laughing uncontrollable. "Oops! Touched your girlfriend. You gonna gut us a-ugh!"

Jinx had turned around, smashing a hex coated fist into the woman's stomach, winding her and effectively shutting her up. Jinx brought her leg up at Harley doubled over, and brought it down on the back of the blonde's head. She dropped, smashing face first onto the floor, to Jinx's amusement.

"I'd get her in cuffs before she wakes up." Jinx offered, before scanning the room. Most of the titans had finished their fights, easily taking out the gun men despite being out numbered, and were watching Batman and the Joker fight it out.

Raven walked over to Robin. "Think we should call the police? Something tells me that it's going to be over in a minute."

Robin nodded slowly without taking his eyes off the pair. The Joker managed to block one of Batman's punches, only for another to hit his jaw solidly. He stumbled back, his gloved had moving to grab something out of his jacket pocket.

Robin quickly drew and threw a bird-a-rang, knocking the Joker's hand away, and gaining his attention. Batman surged forward, grabbing the mad man's wrist and twisting it behind his back into an arm lock. He forced pressure on the hold as the Joker tried to wriggle free, and strapped one of the cuffs of a pair of standard police hand cuffs around his wrist, before forcefully pulling the man's other arm behind him and handcuffing him.

"But Bats! I almost had them!" He exclaimed, laughing. He turned to glare at Raven, though didn't say anything. He didn't need to, as she stared back. She knew he'd be back at some point.

"Call the police."Batman told Robin. "I'll personally make sure Harley and the Joker get to Arkham." He looked at Jinx, and she raised her hands in surrender.

"I'm not going to even both trying to escape. I know the only way I'm leaving this room is through Rae."

Batman nodded, and looked back at Robin. "Send the Joker's hired help to Jump Penitentiary along with Jinx. Raven, if you wouldn't mind getting us all out of the building…"

* * *

><p>Robin looked up as Raven entered the common room at her customary time of six in the morning.<p>

"There was a jail break last night."

"Oh? And we didn't receive a call because?"

"They didn't trip any of the alarms. The prison guards just found three empty cells this morning."

"A week, huh?" Raven mused, as she turned into the kitchen area. "Not bad, Jinx." She muttered to herself with a small smile.

"You really need to do something about this… situation" Robin frowned. "As soon as the media find out, which they're bound to sooner or later…"

"I know. We've gone through this before." Raven cut him short.

"Then do something about it."

"I don't see any problem with our 'situation' so far." She glanced at him. "What do you want me to do?"

"Have you talked to her about getting her to leave the Hive?"

"It has come up."

"And?"

Raven moved to lean against the counter. "She's happy where she is. She sees Gizmo and Mammoth like family, just as you guys are my family. Why should I try and pull her away from that? You talk to her if you have an issue. Now, on a more important note, the June 6th is coming up, and Beast Boy doesn't listen to me. You can tell him that if he plans another party, I will – and this time I do mean it - make sure he's stuck in animal form all day. Some unpleasant animal. Like a rat."

"Raven, I thought that spell was…"

"Dark magic? Yes. I know. However I'll make an exception just for that day. You let him know that."

"He's just trying to be nice." Robin offered.

"I know. However he also knows how much I hate that date. It doesn't matter how many years it's been."

"I'll let him know." The boy wonder grinned. "Don't shoot the messenger if he doesn't listen, though."

* * *

><p><strong>IMPORTANT!<strong>

**Yup, that's it. We've come to ****the end**** of this story. If you want to drop a review, I'll reply via message. Let me know what you think. For those of you who are interested, yes I am going to be writing a third instalment. Maybe at the same time as I write 'Nightmare' since I'm planning for that Fan Fiction to be more of a long term, in-depth thing and it'll take me a long time to finish that story. Yes, that last little bit was setting the scene up for the next instalment, just so you know :P **

**Thanks to everyone who stuck through this with me, and to all you who reviewed. If anyone's worrying about the anti-climax ending, just think on it like this – I have no limit set up for any many I'll be writing in this sequel. The Joker will be back, sooner or later ;) **

**For those of you that haven't, how about checking out my one-shots and the other story Nightmare while you wait? :P **

**Anyway, thanks again. Hope you enjoyed. If you didn't, let me know! Maybe it'll help me write something better in the future.**

**Until next time… **


End file.
